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STEP BY STEP 



A STORY OF THE EARLY DAYS 

OF 

MOSES MENDELSSOHN 



BY 

ABRAM S. ISAACS 




Philadelphia 

The Jewish Publication Society of America 

1910 



yV 



Copyright, 1910, 

BY 

The Jewish Publication Society of America 



©CU278246 



PREFACE 

The heroes and heroines of Jewish his- 
tory are as many as those in the records of 
any other people, but, unhappily, their lives 
and deeds are less known. Apart from 
characters in Holy Writ and a few worthies 
in rabbinical literature, little has been done 
to rescue them from f orgetfulness. 

In the present volume an attempt is made 
to revive interest in the early days and 
struggles of Moses Mendelssohn, one of 
the most illustrious Israelites of modern 
times — in some respects the most gifted 
and helpful. Under the guise of fiction, 
the chief scenes and persons of his child- 
hood and youth are introduced, and his life 
and experiences in Dessau and Berlin are 
faithfully portrayed, though here and there 
a little liberty has been taken with the char- 
acters. 

5 



PREFACE 



Written particularly for young people 
that have reached the threshold of maturer 
years, it is yet by no means a book for boys 
and girls only, but, it is hoped, it will in- 
terest children of a larger growth, and be 
found helpful for our Sabbath Schools, our 
Jewish Women's Council classes, the Jew- 
ish Chautauqua, and other literary circles. 

The age in which Mendelssohn lived 
was a formative one, and the story does not 
exaggerate in associating with his name, 
even in youth, those wise and broad tend- 
encies that were, on the whole, to uplift his 
and succeeding generations. If his thoughts 
appear too mature for one so young, it must 
not be forgotten that he had a gifted intel- 
lect, and showed early the promise of his 
later years. 

J\. o. 1. 

New York University. 



CONTENTS 

PAGE 

I. Father and Son 9 

II. By the Stream 19 

III. A Friday Night 30 

IV. A Wanderer 41 

V. Between Minchah and Maariv 54 

VI. At the Rabbinical School 65 

VII. A Talk with Rabbi Fraenkel 76 

VIII. Shadows and Resolves 87 

IX. A New World 98 

X. Winning His Way 109 

XI. At a Banker's Home 120 

XII. More Light 131 

XIII. Victory ! 143 

XIV. His Life- Work 154 



STEP BY STEP 



I 

FATHER AND SON 

" Moses ! Moses, my son ! " 

A slenderly built boy, of about ten years 
of age, with dark eyes, which seemed par- 
ticularly large, so full and earnest was their 
glance, ran quickly, at his father's call, with 
a slip of paper in his hand, from his low 
wooden bench in the garden, and stood at 
the rear door, fronting the bit of ground 
with a few straggling flowers and climbing 
plants. 

" What is it, father? Do you wish me 
for anything? " 

He thought that there was some errand 
to be attended to for his father, some little 
service to be done. He was always ready 

9 



STEP BY STEP 



for such a task, although it took him for a 
while from his precious books and writing. 

The father bent down and kissed him. 

" Now, my son, you know the doctor 
told you not to write and study so much. 
Here, for two hours, you have been hard 
at work, stooping over your bench, and 
curled up like a monkey. You must be 
more careful — how often have I told you 
that! Do you wish to become a hump- 
back?" 

" Well, father," the boy replied, a 
roguish smile lighting up his features, " I 
would rather be a humpback in body than 
in mind. See what I have done! I am 
sure I can help you soon, can I not? O 
how glad I should be, if only I could help 
you!" 

The man glanced at the slip of paper his 
son was extending so eagerly. It was a 
short Hebrew letter of his own composi- 
tion. The words could not have been 
10 



FATHER AND SON 



written more regularly and clearly. The 
boy blushed with pleasure as his father 
again kissed him tenderly. 

" Well done, my child. Why, you will 
soon be able to help me at my work, and 
then we shall get rich, so rich ! " 

11 And then I can buy some books, and 
go to Berlin to study and become a rabbi. 
Not so, father? " And he looked fondly 
at his parent. 

" But you will never be able to help if 
you don't grow stronger and stouter. You 
know that very well. Here, take this little 
book that I have just copied for Rabbi 
Hirsch to the school-house, and then walk 
out a bit and play until Maariv." * 

He handed the book to his son, who, 
after a warm embrace, ran rapidly down the 
narrow lane that led to the house of 
learning. 

In the quiet little town of Dessau, which, 

* The evening prayer. 

11 



STEP BY STEP 



in the early decades of the eighteenth cen- 
tury, the days before the railway, seemed 
distant from Berlin and Leipsic, there lived 
about one hundred and fifty Jewish fami- 
lies. The community was small and of 
comparatively recent growth. A few of 
the Jewish residents were in marked favor 
at court, which the Duke maintained with 
as much dignity as if he ruled a mighty 
kingdom instead of a petty duchy. The 
great majority of the Jews, however, felt 
the full force of the harsh, repressive laws, 
which compelled them to live in a special 
part of the place, and limited them to a few 
occupations, and those of the humbler kind. 
Yet, despite the general poverty that pre- 
vailed, and the painful uncertainty whether 
the government might not oppress them 
still further, Dessau became a centre of 
learning, and produced some eminent Jew- 
ish scholars, who were later to take a lead- 
ing part in the struggle to remove unjust 
12 



FATHER AND SON 



laws from the statute-book, and bring about 
civil and religious liberty. That day of 
emancipation was still far distant. It is 
well to understand that poverty and oppres- 
sion have never wholly crushed the Israel- 
ite; they have always impelled him to 
greater effort, and made him love his re- 
ligion and his literature all the more. In 
the olden times, when the plague of dark- 
ness fell on Egypt, in the district where our 
people lived there was abundant light. So 
in every period of persecution there was 
light in darkness, as the Jew turned with 
greater love to the study of his law. 

Poorest of the poor at that time was 
Mendel, the father of Moses. His earn- 
ings were of the scantiest. He copied He- 
brew books for the printer, he wrote mar- 
riage contracts and other documents, and 
even scrolls of the Law, the Pentateuch. 
Now, to be a Sofer, a scribe, was regarded 
as a high honor, for it demanded a good 
13 



STEP BY STEP 



character as well as learning and ability. 
But it was a poorly paid occupation, and 
Mendel had to devote much of his time to 
teaching children, in order to keep his 
family from starvation. He was greatly 
esteemed in the town, and his beautiful 
Hebrew handwriting was known far and 
wide, often bringing him work from other 
communities, and adding to his limited 
means. 

The little two-story house still standing 
in Ascan Street, where Moses was born on 
September 6, 1729, was a home of poverty, 
it is true, but the inmates were so bound 
together in affection that they forgot all 
hardship and the sanded floor. Mendel 
and his wife Sarah were loving parents, 
and Moses grew up in an atmosphere of 
unaffected piety and love of learning. As 
a plant grows faster and sturdier in favor- 
able soil, where the sunshine has free access, 
so the child developed rapidly. His love of 
14 



FATHER AND SON 



study was remarkable, and from the earliest 
years he made surprising progress. Noth- 
ing could keep him from his books. His 
parents were naturally proud of him, but 
they feared that he was overtaxing his 
mind, and took every means of checking his 
ardor. More than once he had a severe 
spell of illness, which forced him to stop 
reading, and yet, the moment he recovered, 
he would turn to his lessons again. The 
doctor's caution, to be more careful of his 
health, was heeded only for a while. He 
was a lad hard to be kept from his books, 
particularly because he was not fond of boy- 
ish sports, for his size and lack of muscle 
made him dislike all feats of strength. 

Mendel, amid his exacting duties, which 
left but little time for leisure, did not fail 
to teach his son each day, and he allowed 
nothing to interfere with the task. It was, 
indeed, only in the spirit of the Mosaic 
law, which bids parents " teach them dili- 
15 



STEP BY STEP 



gently to thy children," that he strove to 
make the boy familiar with the language 
and meaning of Holy Writ. Moses on 
his part responded eagerly to his father's 
efforts, and, within a year or two, he was 
master of the Chumesh, or the Five Books 
of the Law, could write Hebrew letters 
with ease and accuracy, and was beginning 
the study of Rashi,* long before his tenth 
year. Mendel soon felt that the boy re- 
quired a teacher better equipped than him- 
self, and would be ready in a year, perhaps 
earlier, for the rabbinical school, where he 
might begin his studies in earnest, no 
doubt for the rabbinate of a great city like 
Berlin. The best was not too good for 
Moses. 

" Sarah," said Mendel to his wife, re- 
entering the room, after giving Moses 
the book to be taken to the school-house, 

* Rabbi Solomon ben Isaac, a famous commentator of 
the early Middle Ages (1040-1105). 
16 



FATHER AND SON 



" Sarah, I think, with God's help, we'll 
make something out of that boy. Don't you 
think so, mother? " 

" I should have more hope, Mendel, 
dear, if he were a little stronger. Why, 
last night he coughed for a long time, and 
look how his shoulders are curving. He 
will become a humpback, and what then? " 
And the tears sprang to her eyes. 

" Don't worry, my dear wife. Don't 
worry. Moses will never have a humpback 
brain. He told me so a few minutes ago." 
And both smiled at their son's clever re- 
mark. 

11 If we only were richer, for his sake," 
said Sarah. 

" Never mind, my dearest, never mind. 
Don't you remember that old story about 
Mazzel and Berochoh? One must not ex- 
pect to have both these fairies, although 
sometimes they go close together. If the 
dear God has not seen fit to send us Maz- 
z 17 



STEP BY STEP 



zel,* He has surely given us Berochoh f in 
our boy Moses. Is it not so, Sarah? So 
don't let us grieve because we are not so 
rich as the Duke. With all his wealth, he 
has no treasure like our Moses." 

* Wealth, or good fortune ; the word literally denotes 
a constellation. 
t Blessing. 



18 



II 

BY THE STREAM 

The Beth Hammidrash, or school of 
learning, which had been founded decades 
before by the Wulff family, early and 
prominent settlers in Dessau, was a mod- 
est building, which had always aroused the 
interest of Moses. He knew he was to 
study there one day to become a leader in 
Israel, like so many others that had entered 
its doors. Within its walls he would be 
able to gratify his thirst for knowledge and 
learn all about his religion, its history, its 
famous men and books. He had often 
peeped through the narrow windows, in 
boyish fashion, and caught a glimpse of the 
low, whitewashed walls, the long benches, 
the plain desks on which the Talmud folios 
used to rest, with the students in busy de- 
bate, as their voices, half shouting, half 
crooning, were borne to his curious ears. 
19 



STEP BY STEP 



Yes, he, too, would join the classes at no 
distant time. He, too, would be one of the 
eager pupils, with his Talmud wide open 
before him, and take part in the exciting 
discussions. Perhaps in a month — perhaps 
in a year, if he were found equal to the 
work, and had sufficient preparation! So 
with the ease and confidence of an old 
pupil, he stood at the heavy oaken door, 
and in response to the cry " Come in! " 
faced Rabbi Hirsch, the head teacher. 

" My father asked me to bring you this 
book, Rabbi." 

" Ah, you are the son of Mendel? How 
old are you? " 

" Just ten, Rabbi." 

" And have you studied Torah? " 

" Since I was five my father taught me 
Chumesh, Dikduk,* and Mishnah,f and I 

* Grammar. 

f Work compiled by Rabbi Judah the Holy, about 220 
of the common era. 

20 



BY THE STREAM 



can write a beautiful Hebrew letter, too," 
and the boy's usually pale face flushed with 
natural pride. 

11 Come, my lad," said the rabbi, very 
much interested, " I have a little leisure. 
Read a few verses from the week's section 
of the Law, with Rashi. Here is the 
Chumesh." 

Moses took the book unconcernedly, 
opened it at the proper place — it was the 
section Balak — and began to read and 
translate freely. Then, turning to the com- 
mentary of Rashi, he went on as fluently 
with his clear and simple explanation. He 
would have gone further, had not the rabbi 
checked him. 

" Enough, enough ! I am more than 
satisfied. You can tell your father to bring 
you to me. You have been well prepared, 
and are able to enter the higher class." And 
the rabbi beckoned to Moses to leave. 

" Rabbi," said the boy, " I wish you 
21 



STEP BY STEP 



would first let me explain something in the 
Sidra * to you." 

" Well, go on, Moses," he replied, much 
amused at the lad's eagerness to display his 
knowledge, 

" It says, ' There shall be no enchant- 
ments in Israel.' An enchantment " — and 
the boy let his voice rise and fall as he had 
heard the students do in the school — " an 
enchantment is to deceive, like the man who 
came to Dessau last month, and made the 
canary bird pretend to tell my fortune. 
But Israel has enchantments, although it 
says there shall be no enchantments in Is- 
rael, and these are our Shabbos, our Torah, 
our Talmud, these are proper enchant- 
ments, for they preserve Israel from dan- 
ger and death. And Israel — " 

11 Enough, enough, thou little Maggid.f 
Thou wilt be a light in the Captivity, a 

* The weekly section of the Torah. 
t Preacher. 

22 



BY THE STREAM 



prince in Israel ! Enough ! See how beau- 
tiful the afternoon! Run out and play in 
the fresh air." 

" That is just what my father told me/' 
and Moses smiled. 

11 Go now, and don't delay until it is too 
late," and the rabbi opened the door for 
him. Soon the boy was running along the 
road, until he came to the row of willow 
trees that almost hid the clear, flowing 
stream, where the boys delighted to fish. 
It was a picturesque spot, and cool on the 
hottest day of summer. 

With his mind full of the rabbi's utter- 
ances, and in fancy anticipating the pleas- 
ure of being one of his regular pupils, 
Moses did not notice the group of boys that 
were gathering in front of the road, and 
apparently blocking his advance, until he 
was made suddenly aware of their presence. 

" Jew-boy, Jew-boy!" cried one of the 
lads, coming closer to him, as if desirous of 
23 



STEP BY STEP 



having a quarrel. He knew the fellow to 
be one of the worst boys in town, although 
he had never played with him. It was 
Fritz, and standing near were Wilhelm, 
Luther, and Otto, all tall and strong, and 
not the quietest of their kind. But then 
Moses noticed Max and August approach- 
ing, who were gentler and better-behaved. 
He gathered courage at their appearance. 
He knew they would not allow any unfair 
encounter. 

" Jew-boy, Jew-boy ! Don't you want 
to fight? '' and Fritz advanced threaten- 
ingly. 

" Now, Fritz," Moses rejoined, clench- 
ing his fist, " I fancy I should have a poor 
show in a fight with you. Don't you think 
so?" 

Fritz and his comrades could not help 
laughing at the boy with his clenched fist. 
He looked so comical in his attitude. 

" Let him alone, Fritz. Let him alone," 
24 



BY THE STREAM 



Max exclaimed, moving towards Moses as 
if to protect him. 

11 One moment, Max," and Moses 
stepped forward, and, looking Fritz full in 
the face, said: 

" Don't call me coward, because you 
think I am afraid to fight. I am ready to 
fight. The only thing I am afraid of is that 
you might break my wrist, and how could I 
help my father then to earn a living? " 

11 You are a good fellow, Moses," Fritz 
replied, but not before Max and August 
had whispered certain words to him, which 
made him change his bearing. " Do you 
wish to fish with us? Here, take a line." 

All his companions laughed, in spite of 
themselves, at the change in his tone and 
attitude, but they said nothing. 

" Come, boys," and Moses dropped 
down on the bank overlooking the stream, 
11 come, I'll tell you something, and you can 
fish afterwards." 

25 



STEP BY STEP 



The boys were soon ranged around him 
on the ground, and waited, full of curiosity, 
for him to begin. They did not wait very 
long. 

" Fritz, you just now called me a Jew- 
boy." 

" O Moses, I didn't mean anything. It 
was only a joke," and Fritz looked very un- 
comfortable, particularly as Max and Au- 
gust were fastening their gaze upon him in 
a way he did not relish. 

" Joke or no joke, Fritz, it didn't hurt. 
I am proud of being what you call a Jew- 
boy. Jew-boys make good men, and help 
the world to become better, as I wish to do, 
if I live to be a man." 

Max clasped his hand, and moved still 
nearer. v 

" But you Jews killed our Savior," said 
Wilhelm. He had been confirmed a week 
before, and apparently that was the chief 
fact he had learned on the occasion. 
26 



BY THE STREAM 



" You are wrong, Mr. Wilhelm," — he 
was the oldest, and hence Moses gave him a 
man's title, — " you are wrong. The Ro- 
mans killed him. They were the rulers 
then. The Jews had no power. Besides, 
to stone to death, not to crucify, was the 
Jewish method of killing, although very, 
very rarely practised. At any rate, a Ro- 
man was governor, and the Romans, not the 
Jews, should be blamed." 

" Didn't the Jews ask the Romans to 
put him to death? " Fritz inquired. 

11 I'll answer you, Fritz, by asking you a 
question, which you no doubt will be able to 
answer. Where would your religion be to- 
day, if your Savior had not been killed, as 
you believe? " 

The boys were silent. 

11 Another point, Mr. Wilhelm. If you 
think the Jews killed him, why, you ought 
to thank, not curse, us for having made your 
religion possible." 

27 



STEP BY STEP 



Again they were silent. Moses was put- 
ting things in an entirely new light. 

" Now, boys," he continued, " when I 
am a man, I shall try to study all religions, 
and shall work to make people respect each 
other's beliefs. My father has often re- 
peated to me the words in the Hebrew 
Bible, ' Have we not all one Father? Has 
not one God created us? ' " 

" That is in spirit just like the words in 
our Testament," said Max, after a brief 
pause, — " i In my Father's house are many 
mansions.' " 

So the lads talked together on earnest 
matters. The words of Moses had taken 
deep root, and would not so soon be for- 
gotten. Then, suddenly, the sun began to 
sink, and the air grew cooler. 

" Boys, it is getting late. We have been 
talking so much that I really forgot the 
time. It must be almost night. I am 
needed at home." 

28 



BY THE STREAM 



He sprang to his feet, and the rest fol- 
lowed his example. 

" Moses, I'll walk a while with you," 
said Max, throwing his arm around the 
Jew-boy's shoulder, and when they parted, 
— they were not silent on the way, — Max 
had promised to come to supper some Fri- 
day night. 

Moses was just in time for the evening 
service, and looked so well after the after- 
noon walk that Mendel rejoiced in his 
heart. 



29 



Ill 

A FRIDAY NIGHT 

It was not many weeks before that Fri- 
day night came which had been looked for- 
ward to with some impatience. On the re- 
turn of Moses and his father from the syna- 
gogue, they found Max seated by the win- 
dow anxiously awaiting their appearance. 
They were not alone. They were accom- 
panied by a tall stranger, a rabbi from Con- 
stantinople, who was without friends and 
funds, and had been invited by Mendel to 
share the evening meal. It was always the 
custom in those days, and it is a good old 
fashion that has by no means died out, to 
ask home, for the Sabbath repast, any poor 
stranger met at the synagogue service. This 
spirit of hospitality is part of the treasures 
of our religion. 

The rabbi was a very handsome man, 
20 



A FRIDAY NIGHT 



with keen, dark eyes and flowing, black 
beard. He spoke the purest Hebrew in a 
voice that was soft and musical. His an- 
cestors had fled from Spain, first to Portu- 
gal and then to the Orient, on the final ex- 
pulsion of the Jews in 1492. A learned 
scholar, he had lived a rather roving life, 
preferring to travel whenever possible. He 
was a diamond polisher by trade, and was 
now wandering through Germany on his 
way to Holland, where he hoped to get a 
position that would enable him to save 
enough money to provide for further jour- 
neys, perhaps to America. He had heard 
that there were large Jewish congregations 
in the chief cities beyond the sea. Mean- 
while he had much to contend with, and he 
had taken temporary shelter in Dessau, 
which was widely known for its friendly 
character. 

After greeting each other warmly, Max 
and Moses were soon called to supper. It 
31 



STEP BY STEP 



was a simple repast, wholly different from 
what Max was accustomed to in his home. 
Yet it was none the less attractive ; the table 
looked at its best, and the faces of all were 
lighted up by joy and kindliness. First came 
the blessing of the wine and the two small 
loaves of bread. The cup was passed 
around, and the bit of bread was eaten. 

" We call that ceremony, that benedic- 
tion over the wine, Kiddush, or Sanctifica- 
tion, a rather long word, but you under- 
stand it," said Mendel, turning to Max. 
" We associate our Sabbath, which lasts 
from sunset to sunset, with the happiest 
feelings, for it is a joyous festival, our Sab- 
bath bride, as our poets call it." 

" And the two loaves of bread? " Max 
asked, deeply interested. 

" We say the blessing over the two 

loaves, to remind us of the double portion 

of manna which the Israelites found in the 

wilderness on the day before the Sabbath, 

32 



A FRIDAY NIGHT 



so as to render it unnecessary to labor on 
the sacred day. Thus our Sabbath doubles 
our joy," and Mendel smiled contentedly 
at his family. 

" Pardon me, sir," Max inquired once 
more, with the curiosity of youth, " what 
does that peculiar lamp signify that is hang- 
ing over the table? " 

" Why, that is the Sabbath lamp, which 
we light on Sabbath eve, to tell us that the 
Sabbath brings brightness. Is it not so? " 
And he spoke a few Hebrew words to the 
guest from Turkey, who responded at a 
rapid rate, to the great amazement of Max. 
Moses, however, could follow very fairly 
the meaning, and thus expressed the rabbi's 
thought : 

" Light has many meanings in our holy 
writings. It may mean life or death, joy or 
sorrow, religion or knowledge. ' Let there 
be light,' were the first words spoken by the 
Almighty to the world before it was created 
3 33 



STEP BY STEP 



as a habitation for life. Light means, too, 
our Torah, — as our sages say, ' If you keep 
my light burning in your soul, I will keep 
your light. 5 " 

" That is a little sermon, Max," said 
Moses, after a pause. " But I wish I knew 
why the lamp is seven-branched. At Rabbi 
Hirsch's house, there are only two sockets 
for the oil. Why is that, father? " 

" I have heard, my son, that the two 
lights refer to the two terms, ' remember ' 
and ' observe,' with which the two versions 
of the Sabbath commandment — Exodus 
xx. 8, and Deuteronomy v. 12 — respec- 
tively begin. As to the sevenfold light, 
that, I admit, is a mystery, as many say can 
be seen whenever the number seven occurs 
in Scripture. When you grow older, you 
will learn more about the number seven. 
But I fear that the discussion is wearying 
your young friend. Is it not so, Max? " 

" Not at all, Herr Mendel. I am very 
34 



A FRIDAY NIGHT 



much interested in your remarks. There is 
a similar mystery about the number seven 
in history. How frequently does it occur! 
There are the seven sleepers, the seven 
wise men, the seven-hilled city of Rome, 
and—" 

" The seven wonders of the world," 
added Moses, glad to show that he knew 
something about history, although, in fact, 
his knowledge was very limited. 

So the talk went on from one topic to an- 
other, and after supper came the customary 
Benshen, or blessing after meals, which 
Moses repeated to the great admiration of 
Max. Such fluency he never expected to 
attain, although he would have to study 
Hebrew, which was part of the course for 
clergymen. 

" Herr Mendel," and Max bent forward 
eagerly, " excuse my asking so many ques- 
tions, but at our house we always say a bless- 
ing before meals. Here you say it also 
35 



STEP BY STEP 



afterwards. Why do you follow such a 
custom ? " 

" Well, we do not like to rush away from 
the table without thanking the Almighty for 
His goodness. A few minutes' devotion 
makes a pause for reflection and wise reso- 
lution. And in our prayers we bless God 
as the Creator of the whole universe, who 
giveth food to all creatures, animals as well 
as man, Jew as well as non-Jew." 

" Pardon me again, Herr Mendel, but I 
hear often about Jewish narrowness, yet 
here, in your daily prayers, how could the 
Jew be broader? It is a shame how igno- 
rant the world is of the real nature of the 
Jew." 

" It is a long, long story — the persistent 
misunderstanding of the Jew. Perhaps it 
is partly his own fault, but only partly so. 
The world not only does not know what he 
is, but does not want to know, which is 
worse, for this means that the prejudice 



A FRIDAY NIGHT 



against him will survive for ages. It is, in- 
deed, a sad state of affairs, but you are too 
young to worry about it." 

11 Father," said Moses, with such earn- 
estness that his eyes fairly shone in his ex- 
citement, " father, if I live to become a 
man, I'll try to teach the world what a Jew 
is, and what our religion is. I'll help to 
lessen the ignorance, if God spares me." 

" God grant your wish, my dear, dear 
son," his mother exclaimed fervently, rest- 
ing her hand as if in blessing on his head. 

" I'll tell you, friends," Max said earn- 
estly, " what I would like to do when I be- 
come a man. I would like to study all lan- 
guages and all religions, and show how 
they are related to each other, like children 
of one family. That is what I would like 
to do." * 

*This wish was fulfilled in the career of one of his 
descendants, the famous Professor Max Mueller, of 
Oxford University, a native of Dessau. 
37 



STEP BY STEP 



" For one so young, Max," said Mendel, 
glancing kindly at the lad, " your wish does 
you great credit. I am not a prophet, but 
if you and Moses, young as you are, have 
such ideals, such noble ambitions, perhaps 
the good Father in Heaven will enable you 
to realize them in the years to come, and 
thus hand in hand you both will be a bless- 
ing to mankind. May God grant it,Amen !" 

Max heard these words with much emo- 
tion, which he bravely sought to control. 
His own father could not have spoken with 
more feeling and affection. 

" Herr Mendel," he inquired, to change 
the subject, " did Moses tell you about 
Fritz?" 

" Why, no; what is there to tell? " 

Max then related the incident by the 
stream, Moses trying in vain from time to 
time to restrain his words of praise. 

u My son was right, and showed proper 
judgment. All such prejudice is due to ig- 
38 



A FRIDAY NIGHT 



norance, and I am glad the boys were 
taught a lesson. Young people should live 
together without disputing about religious 
beliefs. I wish they would show as much 
good sense when they grow up, and avoid 
all religious quarrels, which, indeed, end 
only in bitterness and strife." 

" Well, Herr Mendel," said Max, rising 
after a pause in the conversation, " I am 
very much obliged to you for your hospi- 
tality and your kindly talk. I must go home 
now before it grows late." 

" Good-night, Max. You know you are 
always welcome. Give my best regards to 
your dear parents." 

" Good-bye, old fellow," Max ex- 
claimed, as Moses went with him to the 
door. " Good-bye ! I have had such a 
pleasant evening." 

11 Good-bye, Max. I have also had a 
pleasant evening, and I hope you will come 
again soon. Good-night ! " 
39 



STEP BY STEP 



" The Muellers are a fine family, 
Moses," said Mendel, as his son resumed 
his seat, " and I am glad you and Max are 
such good friends. It can only benefit you 
to know so good and clever a lad. Why, he 
talked as if he were a grown man." 

" Indeed, I hope he will be a good friend 
when we both are men," Moses replied. 

He did not know thgt he was to live far 
apart from his Dessau playmate, and yet 
have close friends that would help him 
realize his early dreams. 



40 



IV 
A WANDERER 

" Moses," Mendel said one afternoon to 
his son, a few days after the Friday when 
the wanderer from Constantinople had 
been a guest of the household, " I expect 
Rabbi Palache to-night. So get through 
early with what you have to do, and you can 
come down and listen to our chat. He is a 
remarkable man, and can tell many things 
new to you. Now, do not forget." 

His son was not likely to forget. He 
loved to hear conversation of any kind, but 
as he had never left Dessau, he saw few 
strangers and knew nothing of strange 
lands. The prospect of learning something 
of foreign countries from the wandering 
rabbi was particularly pleasing. With the 
utter absence, in those days, of books of 
travel for boys and girls, it was left for a 
41 



STEP BY STEP 



chance traveller like the poor Turkish 
rabbi to tell of far-away scenes and experi- 
ences. 

Moses was just finishing a part of his 
daily task, making ready for the lesson with 
his father the next day. It was a stormy 
evening, and the rain was beating in tor- 
rents against the little attic windows which 
sheltered his study and bedroom, and gave 
its occupant a glimpse of the sky beyond. 
The boy's first thought was that the rabbi 
would not venture out in such weather. But 
then it occurred to him that an experienced 
traveller would surely not be kept at home 
by a little rain and wind. He must have 
met worse storms when he journeyed un- 
protected from land to land. 

Suddenly he heard the words Shalom 
Alechem, " Peace be to you," from the floor 
below. It was his father's greeting to the 
stranger. The books were quickly thrown 
aside on a convenient shelf, the lamp put 
42 



; 



A WANDERER 



out, and Moses, all alert, was soon listen- 
ing to the conversation between Mendel 
and his guest It was wholly in Hebrew, 
and whenever Mendel thought the conver- 
sation was too difficult, he explained a word 
or phrase to his son, who was then enabled 
to follow the chat with ease. 

" You say you are from Constanti- 
nople ? " It was Mendel who spoke. " Are 
there many Jews in that city, Rabbi Pa- 
lache?" 

" Where are they not, the children of our 
people ? I have lived in many lands, from 
Spain to India, from Turkey to China, and 
the isles of the sea. Where did I not find 
the children of Israel? It is a miracle, this 
dispersion of Israel, our Galut.* Like the 
sand of the sea was to be their number, ac- 
cording to the olden promise to the Patri- 
arch. And like the sand of the sea they are 
neither to be counted nor destroyed. The 

* Captivity. 

43 



STEP BY STEP 



waves do not harm the sands, but give them 
the greater power to resist attack." 

" True, true, but you did not answer my 
question." 

" Yes, I was born in Constantinople, and 
my ancestors came from sunny Spain. I 
can say, with Jacob, c Few and evil have 
been the days of my pilgrimage.' Yet, how 
wonderful are the ways of Providence ! 
When Constantinople was captured by the 
Turkish conqueror, Mahomet II, in 1453, 
a new Turkish empire arose, which was 
quick to offer shelter to the Jews. As a re- 
sult, they settled freely in Constantinople 
and other cities, and were graciously al- 
lowed to build synagogues and schools, 
while their chief rabbi, the learned Moses 
Kapsali, was held in high favor by the 
ruler." 

" You surprise me. That was in great 
contrast to the condition of our brethren in 
Germany," observed Mendel. 
44 



A WANDERER 



" How so, Rabbi Mendel? Explain 
yourself," Rabbi Palache inquired. 

" Ceaseless and countless were the perse- 
cutions in the fifteenth and following cen- 
turies in the land of the Germans. It is 
hard to imagine the full extent of the suf- 
ferings of Israel. Our people were com- 
pelled to yield up the third of their fortunes 
in royal taxes and allowed to engage in only 
a few occupations. They could not sell 
their property as they liked, nor could they 
travel at pleasure." 

" It was different in Turkey. In all 
those years our brethren could dress in silk 
and gold, and many became very wealthy. 
They had some famous teachers, and their 
lot was happier than in Spain under the 
shadow of the cross. And when the fires of 
the Inquisition drove our people in terror, 
either singly or in groups, from Spain and 
Portugal to the East, thousands settled in 
Turkey, where a little Jewish world of its 
45 



STEP BY STEP 



own was formed. The Marranos, who had 
practised their religion in secret, here once 
more became Jews in faith and observance, 
and by their piety and learning strove to 
make amends for their apparent desertion 
from Judaism on Spanish soil. From Tur- 
key many went further to the East, to the 
far Orient, and strengthened our congrega- 
tions in Persia, Arabia, and India." 

" Tell me, Rabbi Palache," Moses sum- 
moned up courage to try his conversational 
Hebrew, " were there any famous men 
among our people in those days? " 

" Anshe Shem, men of fame, always exist 
in Israel. There is no era that has not been 
made glorious by at least one great name. 
In Turkey the most famous was Don Jo- 
seph Nasi, Duke of Naxos, who died at 
Constantinople in 1579. He had fled to 
Portugal from Spain, to escape persecution ; 
then he went to Antwerp, and founded a 
banking firm. Despite their prominence, 
46 



A WANDERER 



the partners resolved to go to Turkey, 
where they could be Jews openly and with- 
out fear. They stopped first at Venice, 
where Joseph's niece was imprisoned, and 
her property confiscated. Owing to her 
uncle's efforts, however, which went as far 
as an appeal to Turkey, she and her prop- 
erty were released, and in 1553 Joseph fol- 
lowed her to Constantinople. He became a 
favorite of Sultan Sulaiman and a member 
of his life-guard. He was made Duke of 
Naxos and other Greek islands by Selim II. 
By his wise counsel he aided Turkey in war 
and peace, and his influence was sought by 
Spain, Venice, Austria, France, and the 
Netherlands. On the death of Selim, 
in 1574, he lost much of his political 
power." 

11 Moses," Mendel now interrupted, 
11 let mc tell you one interesting fact about 
Don Joseph Nasi. He wished to establish 
a Jewish state." 

47 



STEP BY STEP 



"A Jewish state? Was not Turkey 
good enough? " 

" He had received from Sulaiman and 
Selim not only the ruins of the once famous 
city of Tiberias in Palestine, but also seven 
villages in its vicinity, as a site for a state to 
be occupied only by Jews. An agent was 
sent to superintend its rebuilding, and the 
pasha of Egypt was ordered by Turkey to 
assist Don Joseph. To hasten the work, 
Arab settlers in the neighborhood were 
compelled to render forced labor. Within 
a year the new and beautiful houses and 
streets were ready. It was Joseph's pur- 
pose to render his state a rival of Venice as 
a manufacturing centre. Mulberry trees 
were planted for raising silk-worms, and 
looms were introduced for the manufacture 
of silk. He went so far as to import wool 
from Spain, to make fine cloth." 

"And was the state really founded?" 
Moses asked. 

48 







c 






z 

K 



C 



A WANDERER 



" Despite appeals to the persecuted Jews, 
especially those in Rome, to emigrate to 
Tiberias, he seems to have been diverted 
from his project by other plans. He wished 
to become king of Cyprus, 'to develop it, 
perhaps, into a Jewish state. But that, too, 
proved an idle dream, like the projects of 
the false Messiahs who from age to age 
have arisen in Israel, and have only deluded 
our people. But, Rabbi Palache, I fear I 
am talking too much. Let us hear more 
about yourself." 

11 Well, dear Rabbi Mendel, light of Is- 
rael in the Captivity, my life has been full 
of dreams since the hour I started to find 
the river Sambation, which flows for six 
days and rests on the Sabbath, and on the 
banks of which dwell the lost Ten Tribes, 
patiently awaiting the Messiah's Shofar 
blast. I have not found the secret stream, 
but the current of my life shows no cessa- 
tion, and my wanderings continue ever. I 
4 49 



STEP BY STEP 



am thus a true son of Israel, to whom the 
statutes of the Lord are like songs in the 
lands of his pilgrimage, for they fill him 
with rapture; and even if his pillow is a 
hard stone by the wayside, his dreams are 
of heaven and angels," And the rabbi 
sighed softly. 

" Do tell us, Rabbi Palache, about some 
of the places you have seen." 

11 If all the trees in the world furnished 
me with paper, and all the rivers with ink, 
even then it would be impossible to relate 
the wondrous story. The words of my 
days are the words of my seas, for my wan- 
derings have carried me from stream to 
stream. I was in Spain, and sang the 
Psalms in the ruins of once illustrious cities, 
and I wept as I gazed at the debris of once 
beautiful synagogues. I crossed then to 
France, where can be found some pious con- 
gregations, who love the law, and support 
the widow and the orphan. Then to Italy, 
50 






A WANDERER 



where I saw Rome, but I would not pass be- 
neath the Arch of Titus, and I stood for 
hours in the shadow of the Colosseum, built 
partly by Jewish slaves. Then to Sicily and 
Greece, despoiled of all their large congre- 
gations. Next I visited the Holy Land, and 
witnessed how the Samaritans offer burnt 
offerings on Mount Gerizim — oblations of 
deceit, as Isaiah calls them. What 
thoughts were awakened by sunsets in 
Zion ! It seems a place of perpetual sunset." 

" The sunrise is yet to be," Mendel in- 
terrupted devoutly. 

" I touched the Western Wall of Solo- 
mon's Temple, saw the stables he had 
erected, and the sepulchres of the house of 
David. Syria and Babylonia, Persia and 
Arabia were in my pilgrimage, and curious 
were the old synagogues, and tombs close 
beside them, which came in my path. And 
in China I was told of an old Jewish colony 
with a very ancient synagogue in one of the 
51 



STEP BY STEP 



provinces, which I could not visit, with yel- 
low Jews, while in India I met black Jews, 
tall and handsome men, who were laborers, 
but kept the holy days very strictly. But the 
saddest sight of all — " 

"Well, what was the saddest sight?" 
Moses asked eagerly. 

" It was in Jerusalem. I was walking 
along the uneven streets that are like the 
hills that skip in the Psalm, when I was sud- 
denly startled by a fierce cry, and was pushed 
aside from a narrow path that led upward 
over irregular stones. ' Away, away, thou 
cursed Jew ! ' my adversary cried, and in 
fear of my life I fled, and stopped not until 
I reached the old synagogue. I, a Jew, not 
to be allowed to tread the Holy City of my 
fathers ! Afterwards I learned the secret. 
I had entered what the Jewish people call in 
your language the trefa Gasse — the street 
through which the Christian says his God 
walked on the way to the cross. They kill 
52 



A WANDERER 



any Jew found in that pathway, so narrow 
that you can touch the houses on both sides 
as you pass. Ah ! — so ran my thoughts — 
they would make the whole world a trefa 
Gasse for Israel, but the Almighty, blessed 
be He, who formed a path through the 
waters of the Red Sea, will not forget or 
forsake His people. Yes, that was the sad- 
dest sight in all my wanderings. I cannot 
forget it and the grief it caused. And now 
I must return to my lodgings." 

" Go in peace," said Mendel, as he saw 
the rabbi to the door. 



53 



V 

BETWEEN MINCHAH AND 

MAARIV 

Throughout the week Mendel had little 
time to devote to his son, apart from his 
daily lessons, which began before sunrise. 
There was so much to be done — copying 
Hebrew books, writing scrolls of the Law, 
teaching children — that there was rarely 
an opportunity, save at meals, of conversing 
with Moses and watching his mental 
growth. 

One day of the week, however, was an 
exception. It was the Sabbath, and the 
afternoon of the day, between Minchah 
and Maariv — the quiet time between the 
afternoon and the evening prayers — be- 
came very precious to Moses. Then he 
would lie at his father's feet, or sit on a low 
bench close beside his father's chair, and 
54 



BETWEEN MINCHAH AND MAARIV 

listen — O with what eagerness ! — to won- 
drous stories from the olden rabbis who 
lived and labored, and worked and suffered, 
in the centuries after the Temple fell, and 
Jerusalem became a Roman city. Until the 
day dawned when he could read these tales 
for himself, he knew no greater pleasure 
than to hear them from his father's lips in 
the hush of the Sabbath afternoon, when 
even the sun was going to rest, and no sound 
disturbed the stillness of the hour. 

Moses was child enough to like all kinds 
of stories from rabbinical literature ; yet he 
was most fond of tales in which boys were 
the heroes, not such boys as he met under 
the willows or in the roadways of Dessau, 
but boys that were to become great teachers 
and scholars. Such stories, which have been 
handed down from age to age, Mendel 
could not repeat too often. In those days 
there were no story books or magazines 
for boys and girls, no free libraries, no 
55 



STEP BY STEP 



popular reading in cheap form. Hence 
the passionate fondness of Moses for the 
Sabbath afternoon hour and his father's 
tales. 

" Father," said he one Sabbath, as he 
seated himself this time on his father's knee, 
" I think to-day I would like to hear about 
' The Inheritance.' " 

" Why, Moses, I told you that last 
week." 

" Never mind. Let me hear it again,' 
father." And so Mendel began. 

THE INHERITANCE 

He was growing old and feeble. The 
end could not be long deferred. So, calling 
his only son, a lad of hardly fourteen, he 
said, " My son, I shall not live many days, 
I fear. You have always been a loving 
child, and I have tried to be a loving father. 
You know that I am poor and can leave you 
no wealth out of my savings. But I have 
56 



BETWEEN MINCHAH AND MAARIV 

not wholly neglected you, as you will shortly 
see." 

At his words the boy wept aloud, and 
assured his father that he would rather have 
him living, despite their poverty, than ac- 
quire wealth by his death. 

" Nay, my son," the father rejoined, 
11 obey my instructions. After my death go 
into the next room, and what you find in a 
box there, keep for yourself as your pre- 
cious inheritance." 

The man ceased, exhausted, and in a 
few days he died. The son would not enter 
the room for some days, to secure the in- 
heritance ; his grief was so great. Finally he 
controlled his feelings, and, going within, 
he discovered a good-sized box on the floor. 
Opening it, he saw another box within, and 
within that still another. At last, after re- 
moving a number of boxes, which grew 
smaller and smaller successively, he came 
to the last one, which he opened with 
57 



STEP BY STEP 



great care. Within was neither gold 
nor silver, only the simple words, " Be 
kind." And with such care did the boy 
strive to keep those words in view from 
day to day that he won the love of all that 
knew him. 

" And now, father," Moses said when 
the story was ended, " let me hear about 
Hillel. He was as poor as we are, was he 
not? " And Mendel was only too glad to 
tell the story. 

THE LOVE OF LEARNING 

What was the boy to do ? He wished to 
become a student and enter the academy, 
but his poverty stood in the way, and he had 
no friends. But his desire for knowledge 
had to be satisfied. Some means must be 
found. He went to work one day, and, re- 
serving half of what he earned for his food, 
he went to the doorkeeper of the academy, 
58 



BETWEEN MINCHAH AND MAARIV 

and offered him the few pennies remaining 
for the privilege of entering the building 
and hearing the wisdom of the sages. And 
how glad he was when day after day he 
could be an eager listener in the house of 
learning. 

One afternoon he was unable to secure 
any work, and the doorkeeper refused to 
admit him without the customary fee. An- 
other might have lost courage. He was 
undismayed. He glanced upward, noted 
the high window, and, climbing on the roof 
by means of a friendly porch, he found he 
could both hear and see the sages at their 
discussions in the room below. What hap- 
piness was his ! 

It was bitterly cold as night fell. All 
through the late afternoon and evening the 
snow had gradually covered the houses and 
roads. The morning dawned, the snow 
ceased. Soon the sages were again as- 
sembled, and some complained that the 
59 



STEP BY STEP 



room seemed dark for so bright and clear a 
day. Glancing upward at the window 
above, a kind of sky-light, they saw to their 
surprise the outline of a human form 
stretched against the glass. They rushed 
out of the hall, some of them climbed to the 
roof, and, hastily clearing away a mass of 
snow, discovered the poor lad half frozen 
to death. 

It did not take long to carry him down 
into the house, place him on a warm couch, 
and restore him to life and strength. He 
did not need to tell them why he had 
climbed the roof that cold, snowy after- 
noon. The sages made every provision for 
his education and support, and in later years 
he became the wise, the gentle Hillel, the 
famous teacher of his people. 

" The famous teacher of his people," 
Moses repeated softly, as his father ended. 
" I am sure he forgot all about his troubles 

60 



BETWEEN MINCHAH AND MAARIV 

when he became a great man. Now, 
father,—" 

" It is getting late, my son. It is almost 
time for prayers." 

" Only one story more, please. About 
the ship and the goods that were thrown 
overboard ! Don't you remember ? " 

" O you mean ' Goods that never 
Perish.' " 

" Yes, yes, that's the one." 

And Mendel told the tale. 

GOODS THAT NEVER PERISH 

A ship was on the Mediterranean. It 
was nearing port, and all the passengers felt 
in good spirits. 

In a corner of the ship a few men began 
to ask each other's business. One said he 
was a goldsmith, and had a box of precious 
gems in the hold of the vessel. Another 
dealt in rich silks, cases filled with his goods 
being a few feet away. A third had a cargo 
61 



STEP BY STEP 



of fragrant spices from the islands of the 
East. A fourth had costly raiment, a fifth 
the finest wool, and so on. 

They began to debate as to the relative 
value of their wares, each claiming his own 
to be the most precious, and the dispute 
grew more and more exciting. Finally, a 
young man, who had taken no part in their 
conversation, stepped forward and said, 
" My friends, you all may have valuable 
goods, but mine are the most precious, for 
they are imperishable." 

They all laughed at his words, and 
several exclaimed, " Fool, tell us what you 
are selling. What are your wares? " 

" Don't ask," he replied with a smile, 
" for you cannot weigh them, nor touch 
them, nor measure them, nor see them." 

" He is surely a fool," they thought, and 
spoke to him no more. 

Night approached. The skies changed. 
A storm arose, so fierce that the captain at 
62 



BETWEEN MINCHAH AND MAARIV 

last ordered the ship to be cleared. It was 
the only chance for the safety of the human 
beings. The cargo was quickly thrown 
overboard, crew and passengers joining in 
the task. What were the feelings of the 
merchants as, one by one, their precious 
goods were cast into the sea ? Gold, spices, 
silk, raiment, and wool, all were lost. The 
storm continued all night, delaying the 
ship's progress, and finally driving it on 
shore. The passengers were happily saved, 
and, after an hour's rest, walked to a neigh- 
boring city, where all were hospitably re- 
ceived. 

The next day the merchants were stroll- 
ing through the place, and they came to a 
large building into which people were 
thronging. Full of curiosity, they entered, 
too. A man was preaching. They listened. 
The voice struck them as familiar. They 
could not tell his name, nor where they had 
seen him, but when he had ended, and was 



STEP BY STEP 



leaving the building, they recognized him. 
It was the young man who had said his 
goods were the most valuable. 

" Was I not right? " he asked them, as 
he drew nearer. " Were not my wares the 
most precious ? Gold and silver perish, but 
the knowledge of the law is imperishable. 
It cannot be taken away." 

The twilight was deepening. Presently 
a tiny star would be seen in the evening sky. 
Hand in hand Mendel and Moses were 
soon walking in the narrow lane on their 
way to the synagogue. 



64 



VI 

AT THE RABBINICAL SCHOOL 

It was not many weeks after Max's visit, 
when Mendel deemed it advisable to have 
Moses enter the rabbinical school and gain 
that further knowledge of Jewish law and 
learning which he felt keenly his own in- 
ability to impart. He thought it unjust to 
his son to keep him longer at home, al- 
though he was still young and far from 
robust. 

It was a bitterly cold morning long be- 
fore sunrise when Moses, wrapped in an 
old, shabby cloak, which almost hid his face, 
ran by his father's side over the cobble 
stones in the roadway to the school-house 
where Rabbi Hirsch taught the higher 
branches of rabbinical lore. Mendel 
walked so rapidly that the boy had to run to 
keep pace with him. The exercise was 
5 65 



STEP BY STEP 



healthful, and when he was presented to the 
rabbi, his cheeks were glowing. 

" I put him in your charge, Rabbi 
Hirsch. You will find him a studious and 
obedient pupil." 

" I am perfectly sure of that," was the 
rabbi's rejoinder, as he bade the lad remove 
his cloak and take a seat with the students 
in another room, where the lower division 
had their lessons. He kissed his father, 
and was soon hard at work with book in 
hand. It was a chapter from the Torah, 
with Rashi * and Ramban,f the two fa- 
mous commentators or interpreters of Holy 
Writ. 

The morning hours fairly flew. He was 
too busy to notice the time. When the bell 
struck to announce recess, no one was more 
surprised than Moses. Now he could go to 

* Rabbi Solomon ben Isaac of Troyes, France (1040- 
1105). 

t Rabbi Moses ben Nachman, of Gerona, Spain (1194- 
about 1270). 



AT THE RABBINICAL SCHOOL 

his midday dinner. He put aside his books 
unwillingly, and hastened home. 

" Why, Moses," his mother exclaimed, 
when he began to eat hurriedly, " this will 
never do. You have had nothing since be- 
fore sunrise. Now you must eat a proper 
meal. Take your time, my son." 

" But, mother," he pleaded, " there are 
still some sentences in Ramban that must be 
read. I find him much harder than Rashi. 
I must hurry back, indeed, I must," and 
scarcely taking time for the blessing after 
meals, he ran down the road to school. 

The afternoon found him fully occupied. 
He interested the rabbi by the surprising 
accuracy of his translation and his intense 
desire to learn more about the lives and ex- 
periences of the sages, whose explanations 
of the law have become part of Israel's 
classics. So the rabbi told him about Rashi 
and Ramban, the ages in which they lived, 
and the general character of their works. 
67 



STEP BY STEP 



" I like Rashi better, because he is so 
simple and clear. Yet the other may be 
more useful to me, because he is harder to 
understand, and he makes me think." 

The rabbi smiled. 

" My son, I find that your good father 
has prepared you so well that you can be- 
gin the Talmud in the lower class. That 
will make you think even more." 

The boy was so exultant that the hours 
were hard to bear until the day's session 
closed, and he could rush home with the 
wonderful news. He was to study Tal- 
mud ! Another step forward. He recalled 
his father's words spoken in his early child- 
hood: " Moses, the great thing is to go 
step by step, as the prophet Isaiah tells us, 
1 Line upon line, precept upon precept, 
here a little and there a little.' Then the 
house is built strongly and well, then knowl- 
edge is acquired upon firm foundations. 
Let ' step by step ' be your motto. The 



AT THE RABBINICAL SCHOOL 

words from Isaiah shall be your Posuk, my 
son." 

It was then the pious custom in Israel for 
a father to give a son a special Posuk, or 
verse from the Old Testament, or prayer- 
book, to be a kind of text or guide through 
life. Hence the pride and joy of Moses at 
the thought of his advancing " step by 
step, 51 in the spirit of Isaiah's words. No 
one could be happier. 

" Father," he asked that evening after 
supper, " what is the Talmud? " 

" There are two laws in Israel. One is 
the law of Holy Writ, and the other the 
law of the rabbis, which, beginning after 
the return from the Captivity, under Ezra 
the Scribe, is the explanation and strength- 
ening of the law of Holy Writ. The Tal- 
mud, meaning ( study,' really consists of 
two parts: first, Mishnah, c learning,' 
which contains our traditional rules and 
principles, arranged by Rabbi Judah the 
69 



STEP BY STEP 



Prince, about the year 200 of our present 
era ; and, secondly, Gemara, i supplement,' 
giving explanations of the Mishnah, which 
was duly compiled by Rabbi Ashi in Baby- 
lonia about three hundred years later. Both 
together comprise the Talmud. 

11 But I thought it said in the Torah, 
4 Thou shalt not add to or take away '? " 
asked Moses. " Surely the Talmud is an 
addition to the Law, is it not? " 

" Now, my son, you are still too young to 
understand all this. Be assured, however, 
of one fact. Our sages of blessed memory 
saw no other way of preserving the Law 
than by raising such defences around it — 
they called them ' hedges ' — and they have 
effectively kept Israel alive to this day. In 
their love of the Law they submitted to 
every burden and self-denial. They never 
looked upon the Talmud as something op- 
posed to the Law, but as its continuation 
and necessary accompaniment, like body 
70 



AT THE RABBINICAL SCHOOL 

and soul. Do you understand? I have 
tried to make it clear." 

" Not quite, father, but I fancy I'll un- 
derstand the point more clearly when I 
grow older." 

So the days passed. His progress was 
rapid and sure. He allowed no difficulty to 
escape him. Every subject had to be made 
clear. At first he was very much alarmed, 
because the Talmud seemed to him like a 
puzzle. Everything was mysterious and 
strange — language, style, meaning, the 
connection, the allusions ; but step by step he 
gained the mastery. It did not take many 
months before he was able to understand 
the simpler portions, without any help from 
his teacher. Here Rashi was his only 
guide, who strove to make the Talmud as 
clear as he made the Torah. 

Imagine his delight and surprise when 
he came across the outline of some charm- 
ing story which his father had been telling 
71 



STEP BY STEP 



him from his early childhood. Now it was 
about Honi, who never mingled with his 
neighbors, and fell into a long, long sleep of 
seventy years, to find on his awakening that 
he was forgotten, so that he cried at last, 
11 Give me friends or death ! " Now it was 
about King Solomon and his wonderful 
seal-ring, the loss of which caused him so 
many painful adventures, so much wander- 
ing in beggar's guise from land to land, 
until the ring was found, and his kingdom 
was restored. Now it was of Akiba, a 
simple, ignorant laborer, whose wife had 
faith in his powers, and made him devote 
years to study, until he became a leader in 
Israel, to die, with the Shemang on his lips, 
at the rude hands of the Roman soldiery. 
These tales mingled with others that had 
been told to him, until he began to wonder 
more and more at the brilliant thoughts and 
fancies of those early rabbis, who step by 
step had laid the foundations of the temple 
72 



AT THE RABBINICAL SCHOOL 

of the Talmud, in the study of which Israel 
felt ever young and strong, and bade de- 
fiance to every foe — nay, has outlived all 
the ages of persecution, according to the 
olden promise, " No weapon forged against 
thee shall prosper." 

One morning on entering the school, the 
rabbi stated that he was about to leave for 
another position, and a new teacher was to 
be appointed, whom all would love. And 
one day, not long afterwards, the new 
teacher arrived — David Fraenkel, who was 
also Dessau's chief rabbi. No choice could 
have been happier, no teacher more inspir- 
ing. From the very first lesson he gave 
Moses, the boy felt that a new era had 
dawned, and that his progress was to be 
made still more certain. Nor was the 
teacher's pleasure less keen at sight of the 
lad, already beginning to show his de- 
formed shoulders, who displayed such re- 
markable genius for study. Thenceforth 
73 



STEP BY STEP 



their paths were long- to run together, and 
Moses was to owe to this teacher, more than 
to any one else, the secret of his intellectual 
growth. 

Mendel was glad that his son was so 
pleased with the new teacher, who was a 
man after his own heart. 

" What I like, father, about Rabbi 
Fraenkel," remarked Moses one night, " is 
his simplicity. You would never think that 
he knew so much, if you heard him explain 
to us boys the most difficult disputes in the 
Talmud." 

" You will learn, my dear son, as you 
gain knowledge of the world, that the 
greater a man, the simpler he is. Of course, 
I mean a truly great man. Who could have 
been simpler than Abraham in all the rela- 
tions of life? A great man need only ap- 
pear as he is. He need not try to be greater 
than he is. Modesty, simplicity, courtesy 
are the marks of greatness after all. You 
74 



AT THE RABBINICAL SCHOOL 

cannot learn this too early, my son, and, as 
for Rabbi Fraenkel, I believe you will gain 
as much from his love as from the books 
you study under his guidance." 



75 



VII 
A TALK WITH RABBI FRAENKEL 

The months passed quickly, and spring 
came with unexpected swiftness. One day 
Cavalier Street, Dessau's pride, was cov- 
ered with snow, but the next morning the 
swallows twittered in the linden trees. It 
was spring once more, with cloudless skies. 
The honeysuckle would not be long delayed. 

The days being now longer and warmer, 
there was less hardship at the Mendel 
home. Moses did not need to wear his 
shabby cloak, and he enjoyed a more or less 
hearty breakfast before he went to school. 
The work, however, was just as exacting as 
ever, for his studies demanded all his time. 
That they grew steadily more and more dif- 
ficult was to be expected, but his clear mind 
was never discouraged by fresh obstacles. 
Step by step the path became easier, and, 
76 



A TALK WITH RABBI FRAENKEL 

despite his youth, he was regarded as one of 
the brightest and most promising pupils. 

Rabbi Fraenkel was quick to recognize 
the boy's genius, and he took pleasure in 
arousing still further his love of learning. 
Now, this teacher was not only a thorough 
Hebrew and rabbinical scholar, — his pub- 
lished works prove his ability, — but he was 
well acquainted with modern knowledge. 
It must be confessed that many rabbis of 
his time were opposed to any other kind of 
culture than Hebrew. The latter seemed to 
them amply sufficient. They frowned upon 
German and Latin, and the new studies that 
were so attractive to young minds. They 
even thought that Judaism would be in 
grave danger if the gates were opened to 
general knowledge. That was more than 
a hundred and fifty years ago. 

Happily, Fraenkel was a man of different 
stamp, and he was resolved that Moses 
should receive a broad education, without 
77 



STEP BY STEP 



any peril to his religion. He watched with 
ever-increasing wonder the lad's brilliant 
progress, his fearless spirit of inquiry, his 
remarkable power of reasoning, his dogged 
perseverance, his untiring industry. What 
he admired most of all, perhaps, was the 
keen desire of Moses to learn everything 
about the subject under discussion. No 
half-knowledge for him. He wanted to be 
thorough and accurate. He hated to be ig- 
norant. It was pathetic to witness the look 
of triumph on his face when he solved a dif- 
ficult point, and the discussion became 
clearer. 

One midday, as he was about to go home, 
the rabbi asked him to dinner the Sabbath 
following. The boy was only too glad of 
the chance to be with his teacher, and he 
was promptly on hand at the appointed 
time. During the meal the rabbi expressed 
great pleasure at his pupil's interest in his 
studies. 

78 



A TALK WITH RABBI FRAENKEL 

" Rabbi Fraenkel," was the rejoinder, 
" I think that it is partly due to the teacher's 
interest in his pupil," and both laughed. 

Dinner over, the rabbi took Moses to his 
study, and began to tell him about the books 
which crowded the shelves, reaching to the 
ceiling on two sides of the room. 

" The Talmud is studied best in the lives 
and works of the wise men that strove to ex- 
plain its pages. Every student, for in- 
stance, should know the chief facts in 
Rashi's career, as well as the leading inci- 
dents in the history of the earlier and later 
commentators. Whatever they say is of 
value. They were nearer the age when the 
Talmud was written, and had better means 
of judging its meaning." 

" Is that true of our religion in general? 
Can we not understand it better, if we learn 
more about the history of Israel's leaders in 
all ages? " 

" Most decidedly, my son. There is no 
79 



STEP BY STEP 



better way. Every Jewish child should be 
fairly familiar with the lives of great Israel- 
ites, not only in Biblical times but in later 
ages and to-day. Few realize what a class 
of men they were, what types of genius in 
varied lines, scholars, statesmen, scientists, 
poets, philosophers, translators, who have 
done their share in helping the world ad- 
vance. How rarely we teach these facts to 
the young! I am rejoiced that you show 
interest in such matters, and have always 
done so, thanks to your good father's 
example." 

" Which have had more influence, Rabbi, 
great men or great books? " 

" It is not easy to tell. Often the book 
and the man are so bound together that it 
is hard to say which has been more influen- 
tial. There is a book on the middle shelf 
there " — pointing to a square volume — 
11 which I shall let you take home with you 
to read at your leisure." And, going to the 
80 



A TALK WITH RABBI FRAENKEL 

shelf, he took down a heavy book, which, 
judging from its appearance, must have 
been frequently read. 

11 Moses, this Hebrew work — it was 
originally written in Arabic — is called the 
Moreh, or i Guide of the Perplexed.' Its 
author was the Eagle of the Synagogue, no 
less a man than Moses the son of Maimon, 
called also Maimonides, or Maimuni, and 
known, too, as the great Rambam. He — " 

" I know, Rabbi Fraenkel, I know. He 
was born in Cordova, Spain, in 1135, and 
lived later with his family in Egypt, to es- 
cape persecution." Here Moses suddenly 
stopped, as if he felt he had been rather 
rude in interrupting his teacher, although 
he had meant no slight. 

" Well, my child, you seem to know who 
the great man was. He had a remarkable 
life, and wrote remarkable books. He was 
a truly eminent scholar. Now, of all his 
works, his Moreh, to my mind, must be 
6 81 



STEP BY STEP 



regarded as the most famous, and the one 
that has aroused most thought." 

" Was he not court-physician to Saladin, 
who fought with the Knight Templars and 
with King Richard of England? " 

" Certainly, Moses. He was appointed 
to that office after his fifty-fifth year, and 
about ten years later he wrote the ' Guide 
of the Perplexed,' which has been translated 
into Latin and Hebrew, and will, I am con- 
fident, appear one of these days in most 
of our modern tongues." 

The rabbi then told Moses that it was 
the aim of Rambam to explain difficulties — 
which are often more apparent than real — 
in the Torah, and show that our religion 
has nothing to fear from criticism, that it 
was thoroughly in accord with the science 
and thought of the era in which he lived, 
and had a claim upon the attention and re- 
spect of the world. 

" Surely, that was a noble purpose for a 
82 



A TALK WITH RABBI FRAENKEL 

writer to have in view. Don't you think 
so?" 

11 But did he prove his point? " Moses 
asked after a slight pause, while he opened 
the volume and began to read a little here 
and there, as if he wished to test his ability 
to understand it. 

11 You ask a peculiar question for me to 
answer at once. I would rather have you 
find the answer for yourself in reading the 
book," and the rabbi laughed heartily. 

" But this you can surely tell me. Was 
the Moreh liked by the people ? " 

" It gave rise to a very exciting dispute, 
which lasted after Maimuni's death, and 
created much bitterness. There were many 
that praised the book, and others that con- 
demned it. Some called the author a very 
great man, the glory of his age ; others said 
he was a heretic, that is, one who believes no 
longer in his religion, and that the Moreh 
should be burnt, so that no one might read 
83 



STEP BY STEP 



it hereafter. The one party was termed 
' Maimunists,' the other ' Anti-Maimun- 
ists,' and Israel was for a while divided into 
two camps, as often happens. The Anti- 
Maimunists did all in their power to 
limit the Moreh's influence and show what 
they considered its hurtful character. Per- 
haps from their point of view they were 
right." 

" We should have only one point of view 
— the truth. Was the book true or not true 
— that was the only question to be consid- 
ered, not was its influence hurtful or not. 
Not so, Rabbi?" 

" That is right, my son, that is right. 
Yet, few of us are prophets, to rise above 
our personal feelings. Few of us see be- 
yond our wall of habits and pet ideas, which 
we have not the courage to outgrow, but 
regard after a while as the highest and the 
only truth. Moses ben Maimon was above 
his age, that cannot be denied, and such an 
84 



A TALK WITH RABBI FRAENKEL 

incident is not rare. However, we must 
bear this in mind — most of us that deem 
ourselves above our age are not Rambams. 
We are rather inclined to forget this, I fear. 
But I am talking too much and too seriously 
for you to follow. Now go home, Moses, 
and read the Moreh as often as you like. 
Only don't neglect your meals, as is your 
habit, I fancy, when there is a book to be 
read. You know the saying, ' Where there 
is no meal, there is no Torah.' " 

Hugging his precious volume to his 
heart, Moses was soon on the way home. 
What happiness was in store for him! 
What a privilege ! To be allowed to read 
the thoughts of the great Rambam, the 
glory of his age, the Eagle of the Syna- 
gogue! And the moment he reached the 
house, he began to read its pages with con- 
stantly increasing interest. 

In later years * he used to say in jest: 

* Kayserling's Moses Mendelssohn, p. 5. 

85 



STEP BY STEP 



" This Maimuni I have to thank for my 
stunted body; he alone is its cause. But I 
love him for all that, for the man has sweet- 
ened many a sad hour in my life, and hence 
has repaid me tenfold for what he has done 
to my bodily frame." 



VIII 
SHADOWS AND RESOLVES 

For some months now Moses had an in- 
separable companion — the " Guide of the 
Perplexed/' a book which might naturally 
be supposed to interest a much older reader, 
for it dealt with rather difficult problems 
connected with Jewish law and thought. 
Yet he pored over it night and day. It 
rarely left his hands, save at his meals, or 
when he was at school, until he had grown 
familiar with its contents and character. 

No wonder it was his delight, for it dis- 
cussed the very points upon which he de- 
sired information, and gave him a ready 
answer to many of his doubts. Although 
more than five hundred years had passed 
since it was written, and there had been such 
marvellous changes, it was still a trust- 
worthy guide to him in his inquiries. Under 
87 



STEP BY STEP 



its influence lofty thoughts came to him, as 
the Jewish religion appeared larger and 
broader than ever before. It was a world- 
religion, as the prophets had foretold. And 
as he recalled how much this religion had 
endured, how much it had been persecuted, 
he felt more and more pride in being a Jew, 
more and more resolved to be its champion. 
He did not know, perhaps, that, about a 
hundred years earlier, a young Israelite in 
Amsterdam, who was to attain the highest 
rank as a thinker, had drifted away, after 
reading the work of Maimuni, from his his- 
torical religion, under the spell of the Mo- 
reh. This youth was Benedict Spinoza. 

Moses would often discuss Maimuni's 
views with his father and Rabbi Fraenkel. 
They were both surprised at his maturity of 
thought, and urged him to stop reading and 
studying for a while. He was too young to 
wrestle with such problems. He should 
wait a few years. He was forgetting Max 
88 



SHADOWS AND RESOLVES 



in his devotion to his books. He should 
walk out more and breathe the fresh air. 
He was so far advanced that he would lose 
nothing if he gave up school for an entire 
year. But he would not be persuaded, he 
kept on as before. He simply could not 
cease reading. 

One morning, after a sleepless night, he 
was too tired to rise, and for weeks he had 
a violent fever. A second attack followed 
his return to school before he had fully re- 
gained his strength, and now for a month 
he was forbidden to study. This time the 
physician was firm. The matter was seri- 
ous, the boy's life was in danger if he dis- 
obeyed. But it was hardly necessary to tell 
him not to read. He could not, he was too 
weak to hold a book or sit up in bed. His 
friends came to his bedside without speak- 
ing a word. Max, on his visits, would kiss 
Moses on the forehead, after leaving fruit 
and flowers. Rabbi Fraenkel would stay 
89 



STEP BY STEP 



beside him for a long time, holding his hand 
until Moses would fall asleep. Sleep was 
his best medicine. That and good food 
would restore him in due course. 

On his recovery, Moses looked almost as 
well as ever. The enforced rest had been 
very healthful. His shoulders, however, 
curved more than of old, his bodily frame 
had shrunk from constant stooping over his 
books and want of exercise. That was to 
be expected. But out of his eyes there 
shone such gentleness and intelligence that 
he charmed all who knew him. Fancy the 
love which he aroused in his parents, and 
with what devotion they strove to meet his 
every wish! On his part, need it be said 
how he sought to deserve their affection by 
being always quick to obey them and ren- 
dering willingly any service they required? 

At school he was as diligent as ever. His 
clear brain won its way in every study, and 
difficulties vanished one by one. He was 
90 



SHADOWS AND RESOLVES 



mastering the Talmud step by step, and 
gradually obtaining a wider knowledge of 
Jewish history and literature. He fancied 
himself a Christopher Columbus discover- 
ing a new world, with each new advance, 
each step forward. 

Then, one day in midsummer, there came 
a blow, so sudden and unexpected that 
Moses felt crushed to earth. He could not, 
he would not believe it, but it was none the 
less true. The news spread first slowly, 
then more rapidly, that his beloved teacher, 
to whom he was attached so tenderly, was 
to leave Dessau in August, to become chief 
rabbi of the great city of Berlin with over 
three hundred Jewish families. Who could 
blame him, with his abilities, for forsaking 
Dessau and accepting so magnificent a 
position? 

Moses met the rabbi the afternoon after 
he had heard the startling news, and he was 
inconsolable when the report was confirmed 
91 



STEP BY STEP 



by his own lips. Yes, he had to go. Who 
could be offended at his departure? He 
was still young and had ambition. He 
thought he could do more for Israel in Ber- 
lin, with its larger opportunities. That was 
not to be denied. 

" O Rabbi, take me with you," Moses 
implored. " What can I do without you ? " 

" Moses, my son, that is impossible. 
There are many reasons why I cannot take 
you with me. You know you could not 
stand the strain of much further study. You 
are far from strong, and you must first re- 
gain your full strength. Don't think of a 
large city like Berlin. Remain here. Take 
ample exercise. Leave the rest to time. 
Besides all this, is not your duty with your 
parents ? " 

" But, tell me, am I never to see you 
again ? " And the lad wept bitterly. 

" I shall always be your friend, Moses, 
and whenever you need my help, you can 
92 



SHADOWS AND RESOLVES 



rest assured it will be given to you freely 
and gladly. Come, my son, be calm and 
trust in the Almighty." 

The rabbi left Dessau at the appointed 
time in August. The congregation natu- 
rally missed so excellent a man, but to 
Moses the city seemed in a dark shadow, 
and he felt weighed down as if he were 
carrying a heavy burden. Such a sensation 
was strange to one so young. He did with- 
out complaint all that was to be done, but 
he took no pleasure in his books. He re- 
fused to walk out to the willows, despite 
pressing invitations again and again from 
Max. Sometimes he would pass the school- 
house in the early evening and imagine his 
teacher at the little window, recalling his 
kindly face and voice. Then he would oc- 
casionally gaze longingly at the rabbi's 
home, but it was closed and no one bade him 
enter. 

Moses was now past thirteen. That was 
93 



STEP BY STEP 



the age when Jewish boys of that day left 
school and began to work for their living. 
This step was absolutely necessary when the 
parents were poor, as his were. Mendel 
and his wife discussed the point earnestly; 
it was rarely absent from their thoughts. 
They did not wish him to leave school, for 
they knew how he loved his studies, in 
which he had made such gratifying pro- 
gress. Yet their means were limited, and 
the little help he might secure for himself 
was not to be despised. 

But what could he do ? they asked them- 
selves. Could he wander from place to 
place, with a heavy pack on his shoulders, 
like most boys of his age ? Could he, with 
his delicate health, peddle goods from 
house to house, from village to village? He 
could not enter any other calling without 
giving up his religion, so unjust were the 
laws of the state. What was he to do ? 

They had ardently wished him to become 
94 



SHADOWS AND RESOLVES 



a rabbi, but with his teacher's departure 
that seemed no longer possible. Besides, 
they knew that Moses lacked physical 
health, and could not endure many more 
years of study, even if they had the means 
of providing more bountifully for his food 
and clothing, so necessary for his health 
and comfort. 

The parents would not tell their son of 
their anxiety on his account, but he was not 
to be deceived. 

" Father," said he, one evening, a few 
weeks after the rabbi had left Dessau, 
" father, this cannot go on any longer. 
Neither you nor I can stand the strain. I 
have made up my mind. Unless I can study 
at Berlin, I do not wish to live. Mother,'' 
— as his mother came into the room, — " am 
I not right?" 

" O my darling child, what is your 
plan? Do you want to become a rabbi? 
You know you are not strong enough 
95 



STEP BY STEP 



yet to devote yourself to many years of 
study. Be sensible, my son. Remain here 
with us." 

" I am trying to be sensible, dear mother. 
This is my purpose. I shall go to Berlin 
and study further. Rabbi Fraenkel will 
help me, he promised me that. If I am to 
starve, it is better to starve in a large city 
like Berlin than in a little place like Des- 
sau." And his eyes flashed with excite- 
ment. 

" My son," spoke his father, gravely, 
" we shall not oppose your wish further. 
God will be with you. You have been al- 
ways our darling child, and He will never 
forsake you." 

When the Holy Days were over — they 
did not seem joyous Holy Days in the 
Mendel home — the moment of departure 
came. He kissed his brother and sister, 
embraced his parents, who were controlling 
their feelings bravely, and with his clothing 
96 



SHADOWS AND RESOLVES 



and a book or two tied in a bundle he was 
about to set off on foot to Berlin. 

" Here, Moses," a young girl exclaimed, 
running up to him, " here is a ducat, which 
my parents bade me give to you." 

He thanked her gratefully, put the gold 
piece in his pocket — it was his only bit of 
money — and, again bidding his dear ones 
farewell, he began the journey with a light 
heart. They watched him until he reached 
the turn in the road, and then he was lost to 
view. 



97 



IX 
A NEW WORLD 

It was on a morning in October, 1743, 
when a boy of fourteen years, weak and al- 
most exhausted after a five days' journey 
on foot, came timidly to the Rosenthaler 
gate in Berlin. That was the only door 
through which Jews could enter the Prus- 
sian capital, at least a Jew like Moses, the 
son of Mendel, who, a poor, unknown emi- 
grant, desired to be admitted. 

It was the third year of the reign of Fred- 
erick the Great, and the condition of the 
Jews of Berlin, as well as in Prussia in gen- 
eral and throughout Germany, was far 
from enviable. In fact, although Frederick 
was a brilliant soldier, and claimed to be a 
great philosopher, he shared in large meas- 
ure the prejudices of his age against the 
Jewish people, and their position under him 
98 



A NEW WORLD 



grew even less endurable, so constant were 
the indignities they had to suffer. 

We cannot understand, we who live in a 
country like the United States, where civil 
and religious liberty is the law of the land, 
and where there are no unjust distinctions as 
to race and creed, wealth and poverty, — we 
cannot begin to realize the state of affairs in 
Berlin in the eighteenth century. Had the 
famous king, to whom Prussia owes so 
much, foreseen that a hundred years after 
his death the city would be one of the lar- 
gest Jewish centres in the world, with some 
of the finest synagogues, hospitals, schools, 
and homes of benevolence, that among its 
Jewish residents there would be a novelist 
like Berthold Auerbach, a statesman like 
Eduard Lasker, a journalist like August 
Bernstein, a physician like Traube, a scholar 
like Zunz, with other eminent names in art, 
science, music, literature, — if he could have 
foreseen all this, he might perhaps have 
99 



STEP BY STEP 



acted in a broader spirit. Not only was the 
number of Jews limited by law, and the 
right of residence restricted (1747) to one 
child of every family, but Frederick de- 
creed later that no Jews should receive new 
privileges unless they started factories, none 
were allowed to marry without buying 
porcelain of royal manufacture, so as to in- 
crease the state revenue. Nearly twenty 
years afterwards, when Moses married, he 
was obliged to buy twenty China apes, life 
size, from the royal factory. Some of these 
ornaments are still preserved by his de- 
scendants among their most precious pos- 
sessions. 

The boy stood, timidly at first, before the 
gate. There was reason for his timidity. 
He was tired and hungry, he was anxious to 
gain rest and shelter, and he knew not what 
treatment he might receive. Suddenly the 
Jewish official who had supervision over im- 
migrants like him came forward. 
100 



A NEW WORLD 



" Who are you?" 

" I am Moses, the son of Mendel, of 
Dessau," 

" Why have you come to Berlin? " 

" I wish to study." 

At this reply from such a lad the man 
was fairly amazed. It was entirely unex- 
pected. In the meantime Moses had re- 
gained his courage, despite the questions 
that were addressed to him rather harshly. 

" You wish to study? " repeated the of- 
ficial. "You wish to study? Pray, how 
can you support yourself? " 

" I wish to study," Moses replied, ignor- 
ing the last question. 

" Answer me at once, boy. What means 
have you? " 

" I wish to study," was the reply as be- 
fore. 

" Don't jest with me. How can you sup- 
port yourself ? " 

Moses was embarrassed. He knew not 
101 



STEP BY STEP 



what to say. He had never thought that he 
would be asked such a question. He re- 
flected a moment, and a happy smile lighted 
up his colorless face. 

" Rabbi David Fraenkel." 

This was the solution of every difficulty, 
this the answer to every question. Now he 
would be safe. Taking compassion at last 
on the poor lad, who was interesting him 
more and more, the man sent a messenger 
to the rabbi's house. He was fortunately at 
home, and without loss of time he hastened 
to the gate and clasped Moses in his arms. 
Now the boy felt that his sufferings were 
over. He was soon to find that they were 
only beginning as he entered a new world. 

" Come, Moses," the rabbi exclaimed, 
for he saw at once how exhausted the boy 
was, " come, let us go home," and, holding 
tightly to the rabbi's arm, Moses was soon 
in the busy streets of Berlin, which, in con- 
trast to Dessau, seemed a very large city, 
102 



A NEW WORLD 



indeed. The tall houses, the handsome 
shops, the stately churches, the costly 
statues, the broad squares, the endless 
throngs of people all rushing hither and 
thither- — this so aroused his wonder that he 
forgot for a while his troubles and the 
uncertain future. 

" Now, here we are," and, stopping at a 
small house in one of the side streets, and 
opening the heavy oaken door, Rabbi 
Fraenkel led Moses into the front room. 

" First of all you must have something 
to eat, and then you will rest on the sofa in 
that corner. After you have slept a bit, we 
can talk over matters. No, not a single 
word yet. Not a word. Come to the table. 
There is a seat for you. The meal will soon 
be ready. Why, there it comes, sure 
enough. Now eat." 

He needed no second invitation to the 
bountiful repast, and never did he repeat 
with more fervor the customary blessing, 
103 



STEP BY STEP 



which was an acknowledgment of God's 
kindness in bringing bread from the earth. 
Surely, it was He that had led him to this 
resting-place after his toilsome journey. 
With difficulty he refrained from shedding 
tears of happiness as well as sorrow. The 
thought of his many privations mingled 
with a sense of joy at the prospect of speedy 
help. His friend saw that the boy was 
deeply moved, and he left him for a few 
moments, to glance at some books in the 
library adjoining. When he returned, 
Moses was finishing his meal, and he looked 
much refreshed. 

" Now, a little sleep, my son." 

" But I am not tired, Rabbi." 

" Not a word, not a word. There is the 
sofa — now a little sleep, i a little folding of 
the hands,' and your strength will return 
like an armed man's," said the rabbi, chang- 
ing wittily a verse in the Book of Proverbs. 
And Moses was soon asleep. 
104 



A NEW WORLD 



It was almost night when, entering the 
room, the rabbi was delighted to observe 
how Moses, who was now wide-awake, ap- 
peared a different lad, although his face 
still showed traces of the long journey. His 
eyes were brighter, his hands firmer, his 
voice stronger than a few hours ago, when 
he pleaded for admission at the Rosenthaler 
gate. 

" Now, my son, you can tell me some- 
thing about your journey," and the rabbi 
drew him to a seat by the latticed window. 
11 How did you leave your good parents? 
Were they well? " 

11 Dear Rabbi, I left them in the best of 
health, God be praised! As you may 
imagine, they long refused their consent to 
my going, but they did not oppose me after 
they saw how firm I was in my desire." 

11 But how did you manage on the 
journey? " 

14 Well, a little girl — I think it was Eph- 
105 



STEP BY STEP 



raim's granddaughter — gave me a ducat 
when I was about to depart. There is 
nothing left now. It went for bread and 
milk each morning, and a bed of straw in 
the barn at night. The journey took me 
five days. I was not very extravagant, was 
I? " And the boy smiled. " It was fine 
weather all along — that was some comfort. 
Do you know what gave me the greatest 
happiness ? The thought that step by step 
I was coming nearer to Berlin and you," 
and he threw his arms around the rabbi's 
neck. 

" I soon grew used to the journey — it 
was over a fairly level road. I rested now 
and then by the wayside under some friend- 
ly hedge, a kindly teamster would give me 
a ride, and my sleep could not have been 
sounder. The stars appeared like sentinels 
over my head, and nothing disturbed me. 
Yet I was glad enough when I caught a 
glimpse of Berlin in the distance." 
106 



A NEW WORLD 



The rabbi was deeply moved by the 
simple recital. The lad was certainly a 
brave fellow to have had no fear. 

" One thing more. I felt really a son of 
Israel on the entire journey, for were not 
our people always wanderers from the time 
of Abraham ? Did you not tell me in Des- 
sau that the word Hebrew really means an 
emigrant. Did you not? 

" Now, Moses," the rabbi spoke after a 
pause, " I wish you to sleep here to-night. 
To-morrow I shall provide you with perma- 
nent quarters. You can always have your 
meals with me on Sabbaths and Holy Days. 
I shall also have you copy for me — you 
w r rite Hebrew so beautifully — a work 
that is ready for the printer, and for 
which you will receive some groschen 
weekly. That will help, no doubt. Now, 
for the present, I shall say nothing else, but 
I shall not forget you. We have talked 
enough. Get to sleep, and to-morrow you 
107 



STEP BY STEP 



can begin your Berlin life in reality. You 
will be pretty busy, but you can stand it. 
Good-night, God bless you ! " 

Did the youth dream that night, like Ja- 
cob of old, of a ladder stretching from earth 
to heaven, with angels thereon ascending 
and descending? One cannot know, but his 
slumbers were refreshing, and he awoke 
full of confidence in the future. 



108 



X 

WINNING HIS WAY 

There is an old saying often used by 
young men and women as a motto for their 
college classes: per aspera ad astra — 
through difficulties to the stars, or through 
obstacles to success. It is a good thought 
for college lads and lasses to reflect upon, 
although their difficulties are not so very 
severe, and are usually limited to text-books, 
recitations, examinations. 

In the case of Moses, however, no motto 
could have been more expressive, had he 
known Latin at that time. Surely, he had 
difficulties on all sides, obstacles which were 
real and hard to overcome. Would he 
reach the stars, would he succeed at last? 

On his second day in Berlin he felt that 
he had gained some headway. Thanks to 
the rabbi, he was certain of a few groschen 
109 



STEP BY STEP 



weekly. The work of copying Hebrew was 
not difficult, and always gave him pleasure. 
Then an attic room, large enough for all 
purposes, was secured for him at the home 
of a very pious Israelite, one Hyman Bam- 
berger, who was very fond of Hebrew lit- 
erature, and eager to befriend deserving 
students. Here, too, he had the assurance 
of meals on two week-days. With na ex- 
pense at all for his room, and his food for 
three days amply provided for, he was con- 
fident that it would be an easy task to live 
the rest of the week. He would not starve. 
He would get along step by step. 

Now, it must be remembered that he had 
been accustomed to scanty fare from his 
early childhood. It was always plain living 
at his home. Yet he had never known ac- 
tual hunger or privation. His parents' love 
had shielded him ever from such suffering. 
He was soon to realize the full meaning of 
hunger. There was poverty, of course, in 
110 



WINNING HIS WAY 



his parents' dwelling; but their affection had 
softened its sting. He was now to feel pri- 
vation in its sharpest form. Experiences 
that he had never deemed possible were to 
fall to his lot, and during his first years in 
Berlin he was to taste the bread of affliction, 
as the unleavened bread is termed that we 
eat on Passover. Yet he never faltered in 
his determination to win success. He never 
lost hope or thought of giving up the strug- 
gle and returning to Dessau. A lad of less 
courage would have yielded to circum- 
stances. He was made of sterner stuff than 
to play the coward. He was to conquer cir- 
cumstances, as most of us can do if we only 
will. 

There is a story told by a famous Dutch 
writer about a warrior, who always had 
difficulty in carrying out his plans. He 
almost failed at times, and when he did 
succeed, it was only by the exercise of the 
greatest effort. Finally he realized that he 
111 



STEP BY STEP 



had a secret enemy that was trying to defeat 
him on every occasion, and render useless 
his most precious plans. He resolved to 
find out the enemy that was spoiling his life. 
One evening he went for a walk. He saw 
a man wearing a mask coming towards him. 
By some strange feeling, he knew that it 
was his lifelong enemy. He must kill him, 
and he exclaimed as they met: " You are 
my enemy. I shall try to kill you. Draw 
and defend yourself." The stranger drew 
his sword, and said: " I am ready, but first 
see who it is whom you would fight." He 
removed his mask and, lo, the warrior 
stood before himself! He was his own 
foe, as is every boy or girl, man or woman, 
that yields to timid fears, and becomes a 
coward in the battle of life, instead of 
meeting boldly every obstacle and winning 
success step by step. 

If every author or inventor or merchant, 
or worker in any field, would yield to his 
112 




- 4! 

DO ]j 

DO 



x .S 



b£ 



WINNING HIS WAY 



own fears, and not resolutely labor on, how 
poor would the world become ! 

Moses rose early each day — it had been 
his habit from childhood — and so arranged 
his studies and Hebrew copying that they 
should not conflict with each other. His 
first thought was of the task for Rabbi 
Fraenkel, as that fortunately yielded him a 
little money. When each day's allotted 
work was done, then with ardor he pored 
over the Talmud, sitting up late every night 
until his bit of candle was burnt to the end, 
and he went to bed and slept refreshingly. 

Ah, how can we realize into what dis- 
tress he was plunged when hunger stared 
him in the face ! Often, when he had not a 
groschen for a more satisfying meal, he 
would divide his small loaf of bread so that 
it might last the day. Frequently, too, there 
would be no dinner at all, yet, undisturbed, 
he would continue at work. Happily, now 
and then more copying was to be done, 
8 113 



STEP BY STEP 



which gave him the prospect of meals for a 
week or two ahead. 

It was very much to his credit that he 
never thought of asking help from his 
richer brethren or even of appealing to 
Rabbi Fraenkel for further aid, although 
he would have received the assistance de- 
sired. He felt that he had no right to claim 
anything from others, for he had come to 
Berlin at his own risk. In this way he pre- 
served his self-respect, which he would have 
lost, had he asked people for alms. How 
many precious gems did he possess, even if 
he was so very poor ! First was ambition, 
then love of learning, then industry, self- 
respect — gems which outshine gold and 
diamonds, and form what is called charac- 
ter, our best possession. 

Bearing in mind the advice of his teacher, 
who always urged him to broaden his edu- 
cation, he resolved to perfect himself in 
German literature, which was a closed door 
114 



WINNING HIS WAY 



to most of the Jews of that day, as many 
thought it wrong to speak and write the 
language of the land in which they lived, 
preferring a homely jargon of their own, a 
blending of German and Hebrew. By thus 
adopting in every-day life a dialect of their 
own, they not only narrowed their thought 
and ambitions, but strengthened the popu- 
lar prejudice against them as a foreign race. 
It also postponed, if it did not make im- 
possible, any movement to secure them jus- 
tice and equality. That was to come later, 
after the French Revolution. 

It must not be forgotten, however, that 
a small number of Jews received a more 
modern training, and were becoming 
known in other than purely mercantile lines. 
Moses followed their example and resolved 
to be a German. He felt that while in re- 
ligion the Jew was to be separate and dis- 
tinct, in his social and business life and daily 
attitude he was not to be exclusive, if he 
115 



STEP BY STEP 



wished to be at peace with his fellow-men. 
He owed a duty to his country as well as his 
creed, and to perform that duty aright to 
his country and age would not make him 
less a Jew. This aim Moses ever kept in 
view despite every adverse circumstance. 
It was the secret of his later efforts to secure 
more justice for the Jew from the German 
states and more consideration for German 
thought from the Jew. Of course, this was 
a century and more ago, when conditions 
were hardly as favorable as now for the 
spread of kindness and justice. 

One day — it was in 1746— while Moses 
was studying at the Berlin rabbinical school, 
a poor boy entered the building. He was 
just fourteen, and from the first interview 
they became attached to each other. Moses 
showed him every kindness, going so far as 
to divide his scanty bread with him. He 
taught him also how to write and read, and 
the boy made good progress. 
116 



WINNING HIS WAY 



" Tell me, Moses, you have been very, 
very kind to me, what can I do for you in 
return? " 

" If you wish to oblige me, I'll tell you 
what you can do. Get me a German book." 

The lad was bringing the book next day, 
thinking how pleased his friend would be, 
when an official of the charitable society 
met him on the street. 

" What have you there? A German 
book ? Is it possible ? What a disgrace for 
Israel!" 

Without further ado, he seized the book, 
and took the lad to the head of the police, 
to be expelled from the city as a dangerous 
person. This was promptly done. In vain 
Moses sought to have his friend sent back. 
In vain he tried to interest the rabbi in his 
behalf. But thanks to his efforts, the boy 
was received as a pupil in the rabbinical 
school of Halberstadt. This lad, who ad- 
mitted his indebtedness to Moses in a letter 
117 



STEP BY STEP 



which has been published, was the grand- 
father of the members of the present 
great banking firm of Bleichroeder, known 
throughout the world, to which Prussia and 
Germany have often been under special 
obligations. 

Undismayed at the prospect of a similar 
fate, if he was seen with a German book in 
hand, Moses continued his general studies 
with renewed enthusiasm. By feeble can- 
dle-light, he used to read German books, 
which he obtained secretly, and whatever 
he could gain from German literature was 
quickly absorbed. He did not care if the 
book was hard to read, if only it was Ger- 
man. A volume of stories, a book of sim- 
ple poems, might have helped him consid- 
erably; but he did not hesitate to read a 
treatise on theology or philosophy, so in- 
tense was his love of knowledge. 

His zeal and industry were not to go un- 
rewarded. A lad so young and so earnest 
118 



WINNING HIS WAY 



was not to remain unnoticed. His clearness 
of brain, which shone from his large, ex- 
pressive eyes, attracted many people, while 
his goodness of heart won him friends, the 
best kind of friends, teachers and com- 
panions, who helped him on the way step by 
step. The clouds were clearing at last. His 
poverty was more easily borne each year; 
for a little bird was singing more and more 
joyously in his heart, and its name was 
Hope! 



119 



XI 
AT A BANKER'S HOME 

Berlin attracted a number of young men 
of ability, who desired a larger field. With- 
out means and friends they sought admis- 
sion, and had enough self-confidence to be- 
lieve in good times to come. Among these 
was a needy Polish Jew, Israel Samoscz by 
name, who was a poet, a thinker, and a 
mathematician. He had drifted to the 
capital in 1742, fancying that in so large a 
city he stood a better chance of gaining a 
living than in the obscure village where he 
was born. Despite his abilities, which were 
little short of genius, the task was a hard 
one, and he was often reduced to despair. 

Happily, at the very moment when all 

hope seemed removed from him — this 

often occurs in life — and he was at a loss 

how to keep from starvation, he found a 

120 



AT A BANKER'S HOME 



real friend, rich and kindly, who received 
him gladly into his house, and gave him 
bountiful relief, made him, in fact, a cher- 
ished guest, and bade him have no more 
anxiety. There are many such people in 
this world, who are quick to give of their 
bounty to others less fortunate, and realize 
the truth of the old saying, " What I give, 
I have; what I keep, I lose." 

Such a friend was Daniel Itzig, a man of 
eminence, w T ho stood at the head of the 
Jewish communities of Prussia, and w T as in 
later years to become court-banker to King 
Frederick William II, a position both 
honorable and lucrative. He had assisted 
Frederick the Great in his wars and — a 
rarity for a Jew in those times — he owned 
an oil mill and a lead factory. Owing to 
his great wealth and recognized public 
spirit, he was one of the few of our brethren 
in faith to enjoy equal rights with Christian 
citizens, and in official documents it was or- 
121 



STEP BY STEP 



dered that he and his family should not be 
classified as Jews, for Jews were not re- 
garded as citizens of the state. But he was 
none the less attached to his faith, founded 
at Berlin a school for poor Jewish children, 
and had the courage more than once to con- 
demn publicly the cruel laws against the 
Jews. 

Israel Samoscz became an inmate of It- 
zig's luxurious house in the Burgstrasse, on 
the site of which, decades later, Itzig's 
grandson was to build the Berlin Stock Ex- 
change. It was a fairy transformation for 
the poor student — to sit at ease in a mansion 
and follow his favorite studies without fear 
as to each day's meal or lodging. 

Moses, who had casually made his ac- 
quaintance, gradually found him to be an 
interesting friend, whom he often visited at 
the Itzig home. A close intimacy arose be- 
tween them. They were, in fact, kindred 
spirits. 

122 



AT A BANKER'S HOME 



11 Moses," Israel said one afternoon, 
while they were seated in the spacious gar- 
den, for at that period the larger Berlin 
residences had ample gardens, with high 
walls that secured privacy, and they were 
favorite places of resort for the family and 
its friends, " Moses, did you ever read any- 
thing by Judah Hallevi? " 

" I have read some of his poems, of 
course, for they are in the Siddur,* but not 
his great work, his Cusari. I wish I could 
get a copy." 

11 Well, I am writing a Hebrew commen- 
tary on the work, and I should be very glad 
to read it to you. You might, in fact, copy 
some of it for the printer. You write a 
clearer hand than I do. Let me read a 
chapter now." 

Now began inspiring hours for Moses, 
which revived the memory of his delight 
when he first read the famous work of 

* Prayer-book. 

123 



STEP BY STEP 



Maimuni. It did not take many days to 
make him fairly familiar with the work of 
the Spanish-Hebrew poet, physician, and 
philosopher. Born at Toledo, about 1085, 
and dying in Palestine about 1140, he was 
one of the most striking figures in our 
mediaeval literature, and his writings belong 
to the glories of the golden age in Spain. 
Loving his religion and people passionately, 
he resolved to write a book which should 
defend Judaism for all time. His Cu- 
sari was the result, and it has gained him 
lasting fame, and appears now in several 
languages. 

The work is based upon an interesting 
legend, which some claim to be historical, 
that a Jewish king, called Bulan, ruled over 
the Khazars, a Tartar tribe, in the eighth 
century. One night he was startled by a 
sudden vision, which left him in doubt 
which was the best religion. Next day he 
summoned before him three sages, a Jew, a 
124 



AT A BANKER'S HOME 



Christian, and a Mohammedan, and or- 
dered them to discuss the point. He as- 
sured them that he was open to their argu- 
ments, and would adopt the religion which 
was made most satisfying to his mind. So 
the contest began. Each sage put forth his 
reasons why his religion was the best. It 
was a well-fought debate, and the king lis- 
tened attentively. At its close, he informed 
them that he found the Jewish sage the 
most convincing, and he chose the Jewish 
creed, founding a Jewish dynasty that 
lasted two hundred years. 

Now, whether this is a legend or an his- 
torical fact, it served Judah Hallevi as the 
framework of his Cusari, and it was well- 
adapted for the purpose. He wrote his 
book in Arabic, the language of his cultured 
age, so that thinkers of the day might be 
influenced by its views. The book remains 
of lasting value by reason of its literary 
quality, no less than by its warm champion- 
125 



STEP BY STEP 



ship of Judaism. Some authors write with 
their fist, others with their brain: Judah 
Hallevi wrote with his heart. 

Nothing could have been better for 
Moses than to become familiar with such a 
work. It warmed his heart as well as satis- 
fied his intellect. It strengthened his love 
for his religion and people, and made him 
realize more clearly than ever before that 
the history of the Jewish people, whom 
Hallevi called " the heart of mankind," 
was continuous — a story in many, many 
chapters, which was not to reach its end 
until the era when peace and brotherhood 
should prevail throughout the world. 

One cannot describe with what ardor 
Moses helped his friend to copy the manu- 
script for the printer. Most of his spare 
time he devoted to the purpose, and for 
quite a while. It is of interest to learn that 
a fragment of his copy, in his beautiful 
handwriting, still can be seen at a private 
126 



AT A BANKER'S HOME 



library in Berlin, where it is carefully treas- 
ured and guarded against harm with the 
care bestowed on the original Declaration 
of Independence in Philadelphia. 

" Come, Moses," Israel exclaimed one 
afternoon, " it is too damp to walk out. Let 
me teach you mathematics. You will learn 
rapidly." And soon Moses could under- 
stand Euclid with ease from a Hebrew 
translation in his friend's possession. Those 
who study geometry know that the work of 
Euclid is at the basis of the modern text- 
book. To study it in Hebrew was easy to 
Moses, and he absorbed the book with en- 
thusiasm, and mathematics became a favor- 
ite pursuit ever after. 

Step by step he advanced further in the 
knowledge of Jewish philosophy, and he 
wondered more and more at the genius of 
writers whose thoughts have passed like a 
lighted torch from age to age and furnished 
fire to the greatest thinkers, although the 
127 



STEP BY STEP 



debt is rarely recognized. It is curious 
what the world owes to the Jew. His 
Psalms and Prophets are read or studied in 
church and mosque in every clime, and the 
broadest views of his best minds go to build 
up modern systems. This should not make 
us proud, but grateful, that in this way the 
Jew is fulfilling his mission. 

Moses was wonderfully stimulated by the 
talks with Israel at the banker's house. He 
wished to continue his studies further and 
learn at least Latin, so necessary for read- 
ing the philosophers of the Middle Ages. 
Of course, he was too modest to imagine 
that he was becoming a great scholar; but 
he was very desirous of knowing Latin and 
thus widening his knowledge, because many 
precious works were written in this lan- 
guage. 

Yet how was he to buy the necessary 
books? Where was the money to come 
from ? How was he to pay a teacher ? At 
128 



AT A BANKER'S HOME 



least he could try to save a little, and when 
he had a few groschen on hand he could 
buy one or two books anyway. One morn- 
ing he passed an old book-store and looked 
longingly at its window, where a couple of 
titles attracted him. He lingered a mo- 
ment, gave a second glance, then ran home 
to his attic room, took out his savings, re- 
turned to the shop, and soon owned two 
treasures — a Latin grammar and a Latin 
dictionary, both old and well-worn, but 
treasures priceless to him. The next step 
was to get a teacher. How was this to be 
done ? He knew no one, and had no money 
anyway for lessons, which were necessary 
at the beginning. He was not discouraged 
at the fresh obstacle. Had he not overcome 
other difficulties, even more threatening 
than this? A little patience, a little hope- 
fulness, and all would be well. 

These thoughts flashed through him as 
he hugged his new treasures and sped along 
9 129 



STEP BY STEP 



the street homewards. It was a rainy 
morning, but for him the sun was shining, 
radiant, glorious sunshine. No wonder his 
face was smiling, amid the darkening rain- 
fall, perhaps the only face that was bright 
and happy in the gloomy weather. He 
knew that there would be no funds for a 
regular dinner for two days, but that was no 
more a hardship, and was easily borne. He 
was used to such a trifle as going without a 
hot dinner. He was thinking of better 
things than chicken soup and apple sauce. 
Already in fancy he was reading the great 
writers of Rome, already listening to the 
poets and orators of classic Italy, after 
which the gates of the early Middle Ages 
would be open to him, and he would explore 
its treasures of thought at ease. 



130 



XII 
MORE LIGHT 

It was not long before Moses found a 
teacher who was of great service to him in 
the study of Latin. He was a young phy- 
sician from the city of Prague, where can 
still be seen an old Gothic synagogue dating 
from the twelfth or thirteenth century — 
Dr. Abraham Kisch, another one of the 
kind-hearted men whom he had attracted 
by his love of learning, and whose help was 
of such importance to his growth. 

No mere chance led the youth step by 
step to the attainment of his wishes, and 
secured for him from time to time excel- 
lent teachers at critical periods in his career. 
If it is only chance that rules our actions and 
controls our will, Moses would not have 
survived his early struggles with his deli- 
cate health and the obstacles that blocked 
131 



STEP BY STEP 



his path. It was not chance that guided 
him from darkness to light, but God's 
providence. 

Every day, for half an hour, Dr. Kisch 
taught Moses. The lesson was long enough 
to enable him to learn by himself. In six 
months he could be his own teacher, and he 
required no one to prepare him for his read- 
ing of Latin. His industry and determina- 
tion conquered every difficulty. Dr. Kisch 
found it a distinct pleasure to have such a 
pupil. 

One day Moses, whose keen eyes ob- 
served everything, saw a book marked 
Cicero on his teacher's shelf. 

" Dr. Kisch," he pleaded, " do let me 
see if I can read Cicero." 

" I think it is too hard for you, Moses, 
but you can try, if you like," and he handed 
the book to the youth. 

Moses tried at once to read a chance 
page, and soon, to the doctor's amazement, 
132 



MORE LIGHT 



he translated into German, with remarkable 
ease and rapidity, a page from Cicero's 
work on Friendship. He rendered it with 
such feeling, too, that his teacher could not 
withhold warm praise. Next, he strove to 
master some of Cicero's orations, but he 
was hardly interested enough in Roman 
politics to continue their perusal. They 
grew wearisome, and he put aside the book. 

A few weeks later, on beginning his les- 
son, he showed Dr. Kisch a Latin book he 
had just bought. It was a Latin edition of 
an English philosopher's celebrated work — 
John Locke's " Essay on the Human Un- 
derstanding." This he read with constantly 
increasing interest, showing his strong lean- 
ings even then toward philosophical study, 
a field in which he was to win such distinc- 
tion in after years. 

One of his friends in his mature man- 
hood, Nicolai, relates how Locke's work 
fascinated Moses. With indescribable ef- 
133 



STEP BY STEP 



fort he labored to decipher it. He sought 
out in the dictionary every word he did not 
understand — and he was ignorant of most 
of them — and wrote them down, until he 
had two paragraphs completed. Then he 
reflected on their meaning, and strove to 
get at the understanding of each sentence by 
quick thought. When he felt that it was 
all clear, he compared it again, as far as 
his knowledge of the language went, with 
the literal meaning.* 

With such readiness was he now able to 
understand famous authors that he soon 
studied Plato and Aristotle in Latin trans- 
lation, and grew familiar with these leaders 
of Greek thought. And was he now satis- 
fied? First German, then mathematics, 
then Latin. Was there more to be learned ? 
What other languages was he to master? 
Moses was never content with half-knowl- 
edge. Fie wished to be familiar with the 

*KayserIing, p. 13. 

134 



MORE LIGHT 



sources of learning in other lands and 
tongues. Knowing that Latin was at the 
basis of modern languages, he resolved to 
study French and English. Here, again, 
after waiting a while, a teacher was pro- 
vided, a man of splendid abilities, a bril- 
liant young scholar and writer, to whom 
Moses was to acknowledge publicly his 
gratitude. 

Only a short time before, when the 
young king of Prussia, in 1745, flushed 
with victory, entered Berlin in triumph 
after the Peace of Dresden, the Jews, 
among the rest, were quick to join in the 
public rejoicings. A solemn service was ar- 
ranged by Chief Rabbi Fraenkel, who 
preached a patriotic sermon and wrote a 
special ode in Hebrew, which was sung to 
the accompaniment of music. The com- 
munity desired this poem to be translated 
into German, so that the Christian citizens 
might appreciate this proof of loyalty, and 
135 



STEP BY STEP 



a gifted translator was found in the person 
of Aaron Solomon, afterwards called Dr. 
Gumpertz, then in his twenty-second year. 
This man became the teacher of Moses, 
and no wonder that Moses afterwards con- 
fessed his deep sense of obligation to him, 
not only in the study of French and Eng- 
lish, but for his inspiration in many ways. 

The earliest letter which we have of 
Moses Mendelssohn is written to Gum- 
pertz. Its opening sentence reads as fol- 
lows : " Who is closely acquainted with 
you, dearest friend, and knows how to 
value your talents, he lacks no illustration 
to show how easily fortunate spirits can 
soar aloft without model and example, de- 
velop their invaluable gifts, improve heart 
and intellect, and rise to the rank of the 
greatest of men." * 

No details are preserved of these lessons 
in French and English, but it requires little 

♦Kayserling, p. 19. 

136 



MORE LIGHT 



effort to imagine the scene — the earnest, 
brilliant teacher and the eager, industrious 
pupil. Like Samoscz and Kisch, Gumpertz 
showed him how to study languages, guided 
him to the best authors, and then left him 
to his own labors, without further help, 
which may hamper instead of assisting. 
That is the proper ideal of teaching. It 
simply points the way and prepares the 
student to help himself. Gumpertz lived 
long enough to find out that his teaching 
had not been in vain. Not all teachers are 
so fortunate. 

But he did more than merely teach him 
grammar and literature. At a certain age 
we learn from our acquaintances more than 
from books. In friendly conversation and 
thoughtful debate, our minds are aroused 
and strengthened, our tastes improved, our 
sympathies and interests widened. So it 
was with Moses, and Dr. Gumpertz recog- 
nized what was needed. 
137 



STEP BY STEP 



" Moses," he said one day, " you are too 
much by yourself. You are older now, and 
need more friends. Come with me," and he 
took him to a Conditorei, where a number 
of young men were drinking coffee and eat- 
ing cake, talking quietly at the same time 
about their studies. They belonged to the 
Joachimthal Gymnasium, a well-known 
high school in Berlin. It was an enlivening 
scene — the long rows of tables, the students 
in earnest debate ; and soon Moses was chat- 
ting with them after the doctor had intro- 
duced him to several. He made some of 
them his friends for life. There were fu- 
ture scholars in that group, whose friend- 
ship meant everything for Mendelssohn's 
growth and activity. The visit to the Con- 
ditorei was an event in his career. 

A few years later, Moses owed to Gum- 

pertz an introduction to a man with whose 

name his own will always be associated. 

He was a bit older then than when he was 

138 



MORE LIGHT 



taking French and English lessons. One 
happy morning in 1754 — he was never to 
forget it — he was led to a little narrow 
house and up two flights of creaking stairs, 
into a very small room, where stood a young 
poet of about his own age. It was Gott- 
hold Ephraim Lessing, then a poor strug- 
gling writer, but to form, with Goethe and 
Schiller, the three-leafed clover of German 
literary leaders. 

" Here, Lessing! " Gumpertz exclaimed, 
leading Moses to the centre of the apart- 
ment. " Here is a good chess-player for 
you." The acquaintance thus begun con- 
tinued through life, and their close friend- 
ship has been immortalized in the charac- 
ter of Nathan, in Lessing's " Nathan the 
Wise," a work that has been translated 
into many languages, and has proved a 
blessing in each, as it has taught the brother- 
hood of man and the unity and fellowship 
of religions. 

139 



STEP BY STEP 



The central figure in Lessing's play is 
Nathan. It was a startling novelty to pre- 
sent a Jew in literature who was less than a 
fiend or a rogue. Marlowe's " Jew of 
Malta " and Shakespeare's " Shylock " 
were typical of the stage Jew. Lessing 
showed that the Jew could be a man and a 
brother, broad, kindly, generous, and his 
religion was entitled to reverence as one 
of the great historical creeds. The play 
abounds in eloquent sentences, which have 
passed into the literature of mankind as 
among the most cherished and helpful 
thoughts. Contact with Moses, apprecia- 
tion of his genius and ways, led Lessing to 
paint his friend's portrait in his famous 
drama, which is a drama of religious liberty 
and human brotherhood. Such a purpose 
would arouse little comment now, for the 
world is familiar with thoughts of the kind. 
But to write such a work a century and 
more ago in Prussia was an achievement 
140 



MORE LIGHT 



that arrays Lessing among the few really 
great men and women that have stood 
ahead of their age. And that book was 
brought about by the chance introduction 
of Moses to Lessing as a chess-player by 
Dr. Gumpertz. 

But that was in 1754. The turning-point 
in Mendelssohn's career had occurred a few 
years earlier. The first meeting with the 
poet, it is true, was full of significance. It 
was to be followed by marked development 
on both sides. Think what this meant in 
that era— a Jew and a Christian to be 
joined in close friendship and literary aims 
when the law of the land was imprisoning 
the Jew in a Ghetto and embittering his 
daily life by harsh restrictions on his liberty 
and livelihood. Each was to learn from the 
other, and the world was to be the gainer 
from both. 

Yet the real turning-point in his Berlin 
life came a few years earlier. The hour 
141 



STEP BY STEP 



which he had patiently, devoutly awaited, 
and for whose demands he was fully pre- 
pared was no longer to be delayed. He did 
not know it was so near, but he was ready 
for the call. He had waited and labored so 
long. Did he not deserve a reward at last? 



142 



XIII 
VICTORY! 

For seven years now Moses had lived 
and labored in Berlin. It had been a period 
of great suffering, of intense struggle, of 
severe privations, of ceaseless industry, of 
patient devotion to study. But it had not 
all been shadow. The friendship of the 
rabbi, the help which his different teachers 
had furnished, the kindness received in 
many quarters, these formed the bright side 
of the picture. Then, too, he felt that he 
had advanced step by step, despite difficul- 
ties that would have discouraged anybody 
of less grit and ambition. The fact that he 
saw progress, that light was really breaking 
on his path, that he was gaining headway 
after all, was undeniable and made him en- 
dure every hardship in the firm hope of 
final victory. 

143 



STEP BY STEP 



Moses was no impossible lad. He had 
his faults and weaknesses. But his good 
qualities were too many to be impaired by 
his defects, and he was achieving success 
by deserving success. Karl Emil Franzos, 
the Galician novelist, wrote once that 
" every country has the Jews it deserves." 
With equal truth it can be said that every 
boy has the success he deserves. 

Naturally Moses was becoming more 
and more widely known. This slenderly- 
built youth, with an unmistakable hump- 
back, and large shining eyes, attracted old 
and young. His story was known to all 
in the capital, and the brave fight he was 
making was winning him friends. It read 
like a romance — the record of his life from 
childhood, his years of study at Dessau, his 
struggles and labors in Berlin. Such inci- 
dents were not rare, but he was young to 
have endured so much. A mere boy, weak, 
delicate, unused to such trials, with limited 
144 



victory! 



education, to attain a mastery of languages 
in a few years and to have overcome every 
obstacle, — why, it was like some old-time 
fairy tale of heroes that fought dragons. 
Why, was not he just as much a hero as a 
warrior who slew a fire-breathing monster, 
or a soldier who caught the enemy's spears 
in his embrace ? 

Seven years had passed since he had 
pleaded for admission at the Rosenthaler 
gate. It was in 1750, when one Sabbath, 
while dining at Rabbi FraenkePs — he still 
retained that habit — the rabbi said after 
alluding to other matters : 

" Moses, I was asked about you yester- 
day." 

" Indeed? " he rejoined inquiringly, half 
in surprise, half in jest. 

" Yes, and by no less a person than Isaac 
Bernhard." 

At the name, Moses grew more inter- 
ested. Mr. Bernhard was a wealthy manu- 
io 145 



STEP BY STEP 



facturer, and he was held in high esteem. 
What did he want of me? ran his thoughts. 
Perhaps to copy some Hebrew book. It 
would be a little help, indeed, which he 
would welcome. 

" Mr. Bernhard wishes to have a teacher 
for his children, to live at his house, of 
course. He spoke of you, and asked me if 
you would be willing to come. I told him 
that I could not say, but would let you de- 
cide for yourself. He will keep the posi- 
tion open until he sees you." 

The youth's heart almost ceased to beat 
in his glad surprise. Such an offer, from 
such a source, meant new life and activity. 
It was a long-wished-for dream becoming 
realized. 

" What do you think about it, Rabbi 
Fraenkel? " 

" I do not think at all about it. It is for 
you to accept it at once." 

" I shall call at the Bernhard house to- 
146 



VICTORY ! 



morrow." He spoke quietly and uncon- 
cernedly, controlling his joy as much as he 
could, although it sparkled in his eyes. 
Then he added: " How can I thank you, 
dear friend ! " 

" Well, my brave son, I knew you would 
succeed," and he clasped the youth's hand 
tightly. " I knew you would succeed. I 
fancy your struggles are over. You will 
never need any more to divide a loaf of 
bread into three parts for your day's meals. 
You have won the victory. I congratulate 
you." 

" God has won the victory for me," was 
the modest reply. " He has led me step by 
step, and He will guide me further even in 
my years of triumph, if these are to come to 
me. Will He not?" 

11 Indeed, He will," and Rabbi Fraenkel 
changed the subject, for he, too, was deeply 
moved by the youth's tone and words. 

Moses saw Mr. Bernhard the following 
147 



STEP BY STEP 



day, and made so favorable an impression 
upon him that he was engaged at once on 
terms that made him almost dizzy. He felt 
a man of wealth, and could now send some- 
thing to his parents out of his abundance. 
And what was just as important, he was to 
have ample time as well for study and 
writing. 

" Perhaps, Moses, " Mr. Bernhard ex- 
claimed as the interview was ending, " you 
have done such good work in helping your- 
self to an education, that I may ask you 
some day to help me in my business," and 
he smiled as Moses left with a grateful 
heart. 

Did Moses prove a capable teacher? 
The children thought so, four boys and 
girls from six to thirteen, who had never 
fancied lessons could be made so interest- 
ing, and who formed a loving group around 
Moses each day, and made rapid advance in 
their studies, to Mr. Bernhardt delight. 
148 



victory! 



11 Rabbi Fraenkel," he said one day when 
he met the rabbi on the street, " Moses is 
the best teacher we ever had in the house. 
Why, the children are learning something 
at last." 

" Mr. Bernhard, I can tell you the reason 
why Moses is so good a teacher for the 
young. He has the brain of a man and the 
heart of a child." And they parted after a 
vigorous handshake. 

The children liked best of all a certain 
hour each week in which he told them of 
the different religions of mankind, how 
each had good qualities, and could point to 
good men and women among its followers. 

" When I speak of the goodness in the 
different religions, children, it is just as it is 
with flowers. You find fragrant, beautiful 
flowers in every country and not in our own 
only. Even in Switzerland, the land of 
lofty, snow-capped mountains, you can find 
a delicate flower close to an icy precipice — 
149 



STEP BY STEP 



the Edelweiss it is called. That might be 
made to tell us that there is no religion so 
cold and harsh but that it possesses some 
good quality." 

" Now about our own religion," he said 
on another occasion to the children. " Our 
religion regards other faiths as doing God's 
work, and their adherents as sharing in fu- 
ture happiness if their lives are good. 
Hence we Israelites never seek to convert 
other people to our belief. If they hold 
firmly and honestly to their own and act 
accordingly, they can be good and useful 
men and women, and are as acceptable to 
the Almighty. The Jew does not wish to 
interfere with the religion of others, and 
when he thinks of the future world, he has 
no idea that all nations will become Jews, 
but that all mankind will live together in 
peace and unity, even as our Father in 
Heaven is One. What could be purer and 
better than this simple Jewish belief ! That 
150 



victory! 



is the real crown of our priesthood — to hold 
a belief like that, never mind if the world 
has not yet advanced far enough to see Ju- 
daism as it really is. It will do so, one of 
these days. And though the time seems 
long deferred, we must still wait for its 
coming.' , 

" But, Herr Moses," the eldest daughter 
once exclaimed — she was a girl of thirteen, 
thoughtful for her years — " it is unjust that 
we should be treated badly. Only the other 
day they called us names on the street." 

" That is an old story, Miriam. That 
need not worry us. I was called once Jew- 
boy in Dessau when I was a little fellow." 
And he told the children the incident 
under the willows by the stream. They 
listened full of interest, and loved their 
teacher more, if that was possible, from that 
hour. 

" You see, children, it did me no harm 
to be called by that name. Fritz was 
151 



STEP BY STEP 



ashamed afterwards that he had acted so 
rudely. If I had fought him, I should have 
been whipped, because I was so small, but I 
taught him what he needed to know. So 
Israel. We cannot fight with the nations 
that persecute us, because we are too weak. 
We have no army, no navy, no cannon. But 
we can teach the world the lesson it needs to 
know, as some of us are doing. And one 
day the lesson will be thoroughly learned 
and never forgotten." 

" But is it not rather hard on us, Herr 
Moses? " inquired David, a clever boy of 
eleven. 

" No, no; not so hard as you think. It 
makes us stronger. Don't you know that 
persecution is often our best friend? It fills 
us with greater love for our religion, and 
thus keeps us firmer together, those of us 
who survive. That is how the Almighty 
causes good to come from evil. We need 
have no fear. It is all for the best. That 
152 



victory! 



is enough for to-day, children," and the 
hour's talk was over. 

But those boys and girls often thought of 
such hours of teaching, and kept in mem- 
ory for many, many years afterwards their 
teacher's wise and earnest words, which 
helped so much to make them wise and 
earnest men and women, full of love for 
their religion. 

Had not Moses gained his victory? 



153 



XIV 
HIS LIFE-WORK 

What more is to be said? 

The victory was won, after a long con- 
test, in which the result might have been 
foreseen from the start. Yet there were 
more battles to be gained, more work to be 
accomplished, more knowledge to be ac- 
quired by this youth of twenty-one. 

Yet step by step his further career was 
rounded out with the harvest of the years. 

Tutor to Mr. Bernhard's children first, 
he became, five years later, his efficient 
bookkeeper, then his representative, and at 
last his partner. Book followed book; he 
did not abandon literature as he grew fa- 
miliar with his ledger and letter-files. He 
studied Greek to read Plato in the original. 
He wrote essays that were admired by 
cultured German thought, and critical re- 
views that have become part of German 
154 



HIS LIFE-WORK 



literature for their style as well as matter. 
In 1762 he married Fromet Gugenheim of 
Hamburg, and he won a prize, offered by 
the Berlin Academy of Sciences, over the 
great philosopher Kant. In 1763 he gained 
from the Government the privileges of a 
" protected Jew," and was exempted by the 
Jewish community from paying Jewish 
taxes, to show their appreciation of his ser- 
vices. In 1767 he wrote his Phaedon, to 
prove the immortality of the soul, and was 
thenceforth called the German Socrates. 
What more could he do? Might he not 
withdraw now from work and enjoy some 
leisure ? 

There was more to be done, perhaps the 
most important work of his life. Sure of 
the esteem of the German world, he sought 
to prepare his brethren in faith for German 
culture by aiding in translating the Bible 
into German. His translation of the Pen- 
tateuch, begun first for his own children, 
155 



STEP BY STEP 



marked the opening of a new era for the 
Jews of German-speaking lands, while he 
strove as well to improve their religious life 
and adjust to a certain degree their habits 
and thoughts to the new age that was dawn- 
ing upon Europe and the world in general. 

But how can one tell in a few paragraphs 
the life-work of Moses of Dessau, as he 
modestly called himself? And how can 
one as briefly describe the universal sorrow, 
among Jews and non-Jews, the rich and the 
poor, when he died in his fifty-seventh year, 
on January 4, 1786, a few years after his 
beloved Lessing had passed away? Prince 
and peasant joined in lamentation, and 
many Christians followed the funeral to the 
grave in the old cemetery at Berlin, where 
Moses now rests next to his beloved teacher, 
David Fraenkel. 



To-day, if you go to Dessau — it is only 
a short distance by rail from Leipsic or 
156 



HIS LIFE-WORK 



Berlin — you will find the town not so very 
much changed from the Dessau of Mendels- 
sohn's boyhood. The little houses wear 
practically the same appearance, although 
naturally the streets are improved and the 
willows by the stream have given way to 
factories. Still there is much that will inter- 
est you. 

First there is the statue erected in Men- 
delssohn's honor by the city of Dessau. 
What would Fritz and Wilhelm and the 
rest have said, if it had been told to them in 
their boyhood that the Jew-boy would be 
honored thus after his death? Then you 
will glance at the house where he was born, 
with its inscription, and enter, full of rever- 
ence, the simple room where his cradle 
stood, around which his father and mother 
gathered, full of hope and ambition for 
their smiling babe. The dwelling has been 
turned into a Moses Mendelssohn Home 
by representative Jews of Germany, where 
157 



STEP BY STEP 



the memorial of the man is piously kept for 
future generations. 

The hundredth (1829) and one hundred 
and fiftieth (1879) anniversaries of his 
birth — the latter was also the hundredth 
anniversary of the appearance of Lessing's 
" Nathan the Wise " — were widely cele- 
brated. Large sums were given to found 
fellowships for poor and needy students, 
and to organize literary societies in his 
name. He never went to any other uni- 
versity than his attic room ; but on the one 
hundred and fiftieth anniversary of his 
birth one of his great-grandsons gave a 
scholarship fund of one hundred and fifty 
thousand mark in his memory to the Uni- 
versity of Berlin, open to all students with- 
out distinction of belief. A full edition of 
his works has been issued, and the " Coun- 
cil of German Hebrew Congregations " 
published a " Lessing-Mendelssohn Memo- 
rial Book " in 1879. 

158 



HIS LIFE-WORK 



Dessau saw the most memorable celebra- 
tion of that one hundred and fiftieth anni- 
versary. The entire court was present, 
Duke, Duchess, and their retinue, the minis- 
try, members of the State Council, magis- 
trates and clergymen, while, at the special 
invitation of the mayor, there were deputa- 
tions present from Berlin, Vienna, Leipsic, 
Hamburg, and other cities, who honored 
themselves in honoring the memory of 
Moses of Dessau. 

Although the grave of Mozart is un- 
known, his matchless music has survived as 
his enduring monument. Great men need 
no memorial, say our rabbis; they them- 
selves are their best monuments. So in the 
case of Moses Mendelssohn. To-day you 
can visit his grave and the house of his 
birth, with the many associations that keep 
his name in constant remembrance. Yet, 
when all these have passed away, his mem- 
ory will survive. Such a motto as " step by 
159 



STEP BY STEP 



step " will ever inspire youth to noble deeds, 
and the saying will be repeated for ages: 
" From Moses to Moses, and from Moses 
to Moses " — that is, from Moses, the son 
of Amram, to Moses, the son of Maimon, 
and from Moses, the son of Maimon, to 
Moses, the son of Mendel. 



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